I'll never know how Richard fell to his death, says devastated wife

A coroner has now ruled that Mr Handley, aged 39, of Netherton, most likely fell from the top floor balcony of his hotel room in a heartbreaking accident.

But his wife Rachel is still trying to come to terms with the fact that she will probably never know exactly what happened.

Smethwick Coroners Court heard that Mr Handley had been on holiday with Rachel and daughter Paige, now aged nine, at the time.

Mrs Handley, of Fladbury Close, Netherton, said the family had returned to their hotel room, which was on the top floor of the building, at around 3.30pm the previous day.

She told the inquest she and her husband had been drinking alcohol earlier in the day.

"He had been drinking vodka and Coke and I had cocktails," she said.

"It did not seem to affect him. Richard did not seem drunk.

"We were nearing the end of our holiday and went back to the hotel room at around 3.30pm.

"It was the hottest part of the day so we all had showers and went to sleep." He was found the next morning.

Mrs Handley said she had woken up at around 9.30pm and her husband was not there.

She had not thought anything of it, believing he had just left the room.

She had gone back to sleep and was awoken by the phone early the next morning.

"All the person on the other end asked was if my husband was with me," she said.

"I told them he wasn't there. Richard was very in to his fitness, he absolutely loved the gym, and sometimes he used to go down to the beach for a run during the morning.

"Thinking this is what had happened I got Paige and myself ready to go and meet him.

"It was only when I left the room and was on my way the hotel manager called me over and said Richard had been found. His body was still outside on the floor."

Mrs Handley told the inquest a tent had been set up around her husband's body and police had attended.

She said no-one had been able to tell her exactly what happened to Mr Handley, who also had a 21-year-old son from a previous relationship.

Senior Black Country Coroner Robin Balmain said: "A post-mortem was carried out here, which found the cause of death to be severe head injuries as may be expected. Although we do not know for certain, it is most likely Mr Handley fell over the balcony."

Mr Balmain concluded that Mr Handley had died as a result of an accident.

He said: "This does not mean I am sure. I only have to be satisfied this is what is likely to have happened.

"There was nothing suspicious. Unfortunately the exact circumstances we are just not going to know."

Mrs Handley paid tribute to her husband as she revealed: "It is difficult to get closure because we do not know for certain what happened.

"Unfortunately it looks like I am going to have to get used to that."

She said her husband, a regional manager for PPG Industries, had been an 'outgoing' person.

"He loved going to the gym and keeping fit and he adored his children," she said.

Mrs Handley said she and her husband had been married for two years.

"We are all devastated at Richard's death," she added.

"My daughter keeps asking me questions about what happened to her dad and I simply can't answer them because I just don't know.

"I was hoping the inquest would uncover more details so I could finally give my daughter some answers as to what happened. Unfortunately that hasn't happened."

Mr Balmain said: "Unfortunately it is not unusual for us not to get a lot of answers where deaths have taken place in other countries.

"Some countries are very good while others are pretty poor. In this case the information we have does not tell us much."

The inquest was told the balcony wall measured over 3ft in height.