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| Homesick engineer leapt from hotel balcony to his death after argument with wife |
| 2009-03-02 |
| A homesick engineer leapt from a hotel balcony to his death after an argument with his wife during New Year's Eve celebrations, an inquest has been told. It wasn't a Rantburger. We all are accounted for. Paul McDougall had been watching fireworks over Sydney harbour with his wife and friends when friends over heard him saying he wanted to return home to England with his wife "whether she liked it or not." In a statement describing her husband's last words, Karen McDougall told the inquest in Trowbridge, Wilts., said: "Paul then said 'if I'm not here, they will kick you out. He was talking about permanent residency in Australia. He then ran through the open doors in the lounge room and jumped over the balcony." Bad and tragic choice. The McDougalls, who had settled permanently in Western Australia, were visiting Sydney as part of plans to watch the Ashes Test Series with fellow English expats, David Carter and Lee Woolford. On New Year's Eve 2007, the four gathered at Sydney's Lennon Bar at 6pm to ensure they had the best seats to view the fireworks display over the harbour. The group was treated to canapés and an endless supply of Champagne and spirits at the event. Which undoubtedly lubed up the judgement centres of the brain. "He was probably on the same level as me. We'd go drink for drink every time. Every time someone wanted a drink we got a round in because it was free -- whisky and coke, Jack Daniels," said Mr Carter. And it is a sin to refuse a free drink. The inquest was told that they left the bar after midnight and made their way back to the Oaks Harmony apartment in Quay Street. Mr Woolford and Mrs McDougall arrived home first and as soon as Mr McDougall arrived, a row began. "He started on about my drinking. He said I drunk too much. I was an embarrassment. He poured a bottle of wine down the sink", said Mrs McDougall in a statement. Mr Carter told the inquest that soon after he and Mr Woolford had left the room to go bed, Mrs McDougall called them back. "The next thing she said was 'come here'. "I came out and she said he had gone over the balcony. I looked down and saw him in a starfish shape," he said. The inquest heard Mr McDougall had run through the sliding doors to the balcony and mounted a chair which he used as a "springboard" to vault the glass safety balustrade to plunge from the 17th floor onto the balcony of the 13th floor. Jeeze Louise. Paramedics rushed the victim to hospital, but he died later of multiple injuries. Tests found Mr McDougall had 183 millilitres of alcohol in 100 litres of blood and had 272 millilitres of alcohol in urine. That is 0.183% alcohol in the bloodstream, and a bunch in the bladder. "He never intended to take his own life. He loved life," insisted Mr Carter, while Mr Woolford said in an earlier statement that Mr McDougall told him he was looking forward to meeting with his father for a holiday in Thailand. Mrs McDougall had said: "I don't think it was deliberate. It may have been just to scare me." Chock this one up to inebriation and bad judgment. Summing up, Wiltshire Coroner David Masters said there was insufficient evidence to prove that Mr McDougall, of Mullaoo, Western Australia, intended to kill himself and recorded an open verdict. |
| Posted by:Alaska Paul |