Student fell to death from window after getting 'hammered' with father, inquest hears

Croydon Coroner's Court heard Andreas Christou died from 'catastrophic head and neck injuries' following the 60ft fall

Croydon Crown Court heard how Andreas Christou had fallen from a fourth floor window at his home in Edinburgh (Google Maps)

A student fell to his death from a bathroom window after getting “hammered” with his father in Edinburgh, an inquest has heard.

Andreas Christou plunged from a window in his fourth floor Victorian flat after drinking heavily during an evening out with his father, Christos, who was visiting him at university in October last year.

Andreas, who was studying English and History at Edinburgh University, was found to have “very high alcohol levels in his system”.

In a written statement to Croydon Crown Court, Mr Christou, said he had “never seen his son drink red wine before” and had “tried to stop him” when he realised how drunk he had become.

Mr Christou took Andreas back to his flat where the student passed out on the floor.

Andreas’ flatmate Isabel Jahnke described Mr Christou attempting to rouse him by speaking to him in Greek and gently slapping his cheeks.

She said the 20-year-old, who was originally from Norbury in south London, then woke up some time later and ran to the bathroom saying he was going to be sick.

He locked himself in and did not return for a “long time” and was not responding when he was asked to open the door.

Eventually, Ms Jahnke’s boyfriend kicked the door open and found the bathroom empty with the large sash window fully open.

Andreas was pronounced dead after being rushed to hospital with “catastrophic head and neck injuries” after falling between 50 and 60ft from the window, the Croydon Guardian reports.

His friend Lila Grandgeorge said Andreas was an “occasional drinker, who tended to binge drink” on nights out.

"I really can't explain it. It was just sudden madness", she said.

Coroner Selena Lynch recorded an open verdict and ruled out both suicide and an accident saying there were no drugs in his system and “you would need to be quite nimble to go from that toilet seat out to that window”.

She said: "There is no room for this being an accident, but it would be wrong for to say this was a case of suicide.

"I just don't have enough evidence.

"He's gone to some trouble going out of the window.

"Some people do get very distressed when they drinking and are just not in charge of themselves - he was highly intoxicated and may not have understood the nature and quality in his acts", she explained.