Ex 'tried to protect' Bataclan victim Nick Alexander

Nick Alexander, 35, was one of those killed in the Bataclan nightclub during the Paris attacks on 13 November

The ex-girlfriend of a British man killed in the Paris attacks has described how she tried to save "the love of her life" after he was shot.

Nick Alexander, 35, was shot in the abdomen and chest in the Bataclan nightclub in November last year, Chelmsford Coroner's Court heard.

The inquest heard written evidence from Helen Wilson, who was with him at the concert venue where 90 people died.

Coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray ruled Mr Alexander was unlawfully killed.

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Ms Wilson said the pair had tried to "play dead" when they realised what was happening.

'Saw blood'

"We dropped to the floor as soon as we heard the first shot," she said.

"A tall man came over to us and started shooting. I tried to protect Nick.

"I asked him if he had been shot. I felt a burning sensation around my legs and I could see blood.

"Nick told me he had been shot in the stomach."

Nick Alexander was shot in the abdomen and chest, an inquest into his death was told

Ms Wilson told the inquest she held on to Mr Alexander's hand while his breathing became shallower.

"I twisted my body around and gave him mouth-to-mouth. I was telling him not to leave me and I love him," she said.

Mr Alexander, from Colchester, Essex, was selling band merchandise for Eagles of Death Metal when he was killed in one of a series of co-ordinated attacks by gunmen across the city.

He was the only British national to die in the attacks, the Foreign Office told the BBC.

Outside the coroner's court, Mr Alexander's sister Zoe said he "lived his life to the full".

Standing alongside her mother Sheelagh, she said her brother "lost his life in an indiscriminate act of terror at the Bataclan theatre".

"Nick was a much-loved son, brother, uncle and friend, a strong, gentle, generous and funny man who lived his life to the full," she said.

"We were blessed to have him in our lives and we miss him beyond measure."

Ninety people were killed by gunmen who targeted the Bataclan theatre in Paris on 13 November 2015