THE father of a known sleepwalker who froze to death after falling from a hotel window told his former colleagues he "hopes they feel very bad" for not raising the alarm sooner.
Surveyor Rob Williams was on a works Christmas night out when he was knocked unconscious after falling from of a hotel window in Waltham Cross.
The 27-year-old, of Pigstye Green Lane, Willingale, froze unnoticed for hours on the hotel roof in just a shirt and suit trousers.
But despite his coat and shoes on the floor and the window being open, David Mellis and Bill Andrews scooped up his belongings after waking up, went to breakfast and headed into work.
'Alarm bells'
Both men drank a lot and said they could not remember the night's events. Mr Williams was not found until 1.30pm "groaning" on the roof that day by a worker in a first-floor room. He died from hypothermia five days later last Christmas Day.
At an inquest into his death in Hertfordshire on Wednesday (July 16), Mr Williams's father, Jestyn Williams, asked his son's colleagues: "Didn't alarm bells ring when you got up and Rob's coat and shoes were there, thinking where in the hotel is he?
"You didn't raise the alarm and search for him. That's the thing we can't come to terms with."
His girlfriend Carla Hilton said she tried contacting his firm BR Hodgson at 10am but was told he was in a meeting.
Later, the firm contacted her to say he hadn't arrived at work. She called Essex Police to report him missing around 1pm. The police rated him as low-risk. Miss Hilton told the inquest: "I have learned one thing today – if you are 'low-risk' don't bother calling the police. If I had known that he hadn't turned up for work the next morning, I would have been worried because it was highly unlike him."
'Irreversibly damaged'
Hertfordshire coroner Edward Thomas said: "What concerns me is at what stage do you get worried that he had not turned up for work. What we don't know is if calling him at 10am would have meant he survived."
When he was eventually found, the former Hylands School pupil was rushed to hospital.
Doctors tried to warm him back up while bypassing his heart in an effort to avoid any cardiac arrests as he stabilised. When he was found, his body temperature was 21C, well below the average of around 37C.
But he had been cold for so long his internal organs, including his brain, had been irreversibly damaged.
A blood sample taken on his arrival at hospital showed he had 110mg of alcohol in 100mg of blood. The drink drive limit is 80mg.
The former Hylands school pupil was supposed to be staying at another hotel nearby, but had returned with Mr Mellis and Mr Andrews.
Lesson to be learnt
At one pub, Mr Williams had been punched in the face after going behind the bar.
Miss Hilton asked if this would have had disorientated him but pathologist Nathaniel Carey said of more concern would have been the "lethal" amount of alcohol in his blood. He estimated this could have been as high as about 300mg at the end of the works party at 5pm the previous night.
Despite the inquest hearing Rob was known for sleepwalking, Mr Thomas said "no evidence" supported the claim.
Recording a verdict of death by misadventure, he told Rob's family: "There is no CCTV evidence, there is no forensic evidence, there is only the evidence of where he was found.
"Mr Carey the pathologist tells me that the cause of death – which I accept – is complications arising from severe hypothermia.
"What caused that? Being outside, not fully clothed, being damp, being seriously intoxicated – because that by itself can be severe – and also impact injuries consistent with falls. If concerns were escalated earlier it may have been a different story, but we don't know. I suspect this will always be with you and I just feel so sad for you, so sad."
Speaking after the inquest, Mr Williams's sister Kirsty Ashby said: "We feel that we should have been told much sooner than we were.
"There is a clear lesson to be learnt from this and that is to always ring the police or next of kin straight away if you are worried about someone.
"Worrying someone unnecessarily is irrelevant in a situation like this as time could be vital.
"Although my family are not wanting to apportion blame on anyone I don't think any of us will ever come to terms with the fact that we could not do more to help him as we did not know he was missing until it was too late."
