British holidaymaker died in drunk balcony fall

Antony Maxwell was holidaying in Alanya, near Antalya in Turkey, when he fell to his death

A British tourist fell to his death after tumbling over a balcony while drunk at the hotel he was staying at, an inquest concluded.

Crane operator Antony Maxwell was smoking a cigarette at the resort in Alanya near Antalya, Turkey, moments before his fatal fall from the fifth floor on 18 April.

The 21-year-old from Maldon, Essex, was taken to hospital and died from a severe head injury, with a coroner ruling it was an accident.

Speaking during the inquest at Essex coroner's court, his grandmother, Lynn Mann, said: "The fact of the matter is this is just tragic."

Area coroner Michelle Brown said Mr Maxwell was "profoundly" intoxicated at the time of his death, which happened on the first night of the trip.

A post-mortem examination in Turkey found he had 231mg of alcohol in 100ml of his blood; the legal limit to drive in the UK is 80mg.

"He was with his girlfriend on holiday and they had just arrived at the hotel," Ms Brown told the inquest.

"She was unpacking and he apparently went on to the balcony to have a cigarette and fell five floors."

An inquest into Mr Maxwell's death was held at Essex Coroner's Court in Chelmsford

Mr Maxwell was pronounced dead by hospital staff in Antalya at 02:30 local time (00:30 BST).

His girlfriend was arrested by Turkish police but released later that day, with any third-party involvement ruled out.

Mr Maxwell was on holiday with about 13 members of his girlfriend's family and friends, who were celebrating a child's birthday.

Ms Mann said his friend was staying in the apartment below, and perhaps he had been trying to get his attention before falling.

However, Ms Brown said it was impossible to determine the circumstances as to how he fell.

'Tragic'

During the hearing on Wednesday, Ms Mann said Mr Maxwell and his girlfriend had "a long day travelling" and he worked lengthy hours the day before.

She said her grandson sent her a picture before he boarded a plane at London Stansted Airport, saying "we're on our way".

"The next message to us was early hours in the morning. For all we knew he was on holiday enjoying himself," Ms Mann added.

The grandmother said the family would have to make peace with the fact they would never know how Mr Maxwell came to fall.

Describing his death as "tragic", she added: "Whatever happened, happened and it was a fall."