A FORMER builder from Dorchester died after falling down a flight of stairs, an inquest heard.

Paul Martin Fennell, 56, of Cambridge Road in Dorchester, was found at the bottom of the stairs in the communal hallway of Victoria Court.

West Dorset deputy coroner Alan Horne told the inquest that Mr Fennell sustained injuries to his head and was taken to Dorset County Hospital on May 7, last year, at around 6.50pm.

Pathologist Dr Mark Deverell said the level of alcohol in Mr Fennell’s blood indicated he was significantly intoxicated prior to his death.

Dr Amin Elyas, of Southampton Hospital, said Mr Fennell had been transferred to the hospital for urgent surgery on the same night as his fall.

Dr Andy Eynon described the fall as ‘non-survivable from the outset’.

Ella Simmonds, 20, was visiting a friend in Victoria Court on May 7 when she heard a thud outside her friend’s flat.

She said: “When I opened the door I saw two girls on the landing – one girl was on her mobile phone. They said they were calling an ambulance because someone had fallen down the stairs.”

The inquest heard how, on instructions by the ambulance service, she turned Mr Fennell on to his left hand side and held his head back where she noticed a lump ‘roughly the size of a grapefruit’.

She added: “I took Paul’s shoes off – they were wedged heels. Nearby there was a slice of chocolate cake on the floor.”

DS Paul Auger told the inquest there were no suspicious circumstances.

Mr Horne said: “Paul Fennell had fallen down the stairs. He had been carrying a cake and was wearing wedged sandals with a heel on them.”

He said the cause of death was a massive brain injury due to blunt trauma. He recorded a verdict of accidental death.