Man died of hypothermia after falling on hotel roof

The family of a man who died of severe hypothermia after falling from a hotel window following a work Christmas party has criticised his colleagues for not raising the alarm earlier.

Robert Williams' father Jestyn said at Hertfordshire Coroner's Court: "Didn't alarm bells ring when you got up Rob's coat and shoes were there, thinking where in the hotel is he?

"You didn't raise the alarm and search for him. That's the thing we can't come to terms with.

"You remember what you did in the morning. You went to breakfast while he was lying above you and I hope you feel very bad about it."

The Daily Mail reports that 27-year-old Robert was found the next afternoon after falling 13ft from a hotel window at the De Vere hotel near Waltham Cross.

He had returned to the room of two colleagues but when David Mellis and Bill Andrews woke the next day, Robert had gone.

After checking out, they returned to the hotel to search for him when he did not turn up to work.

Hertfordshire Mercury reports that he was found on the roof and his temperature was 21C. He was taken to hospital where he died.

A pathologist said: "21 degrees is a very low temperature for someone with hypothermia; a temperature like that would often be considered non-survivable.

"They did a very good job of managing to reverse the hypothermia but the damage to the internal organs, particularly the brain, had already occurred."

There was speculation that Robert was sleepwalking when he fell but a coroner said there was "no evidence" to support this.

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