Man jumped to death in Dubai after 'drunken row' with girlfriend

A geologist leapt to his death from the balcony of his high-rise apartment in Dubai after a drunken row with his girlfriend, an inquest has heard.

Ryan Guest, 24, told her "I'm going" as he jumped on a table, tried to close the patio doors behind him and then plunged 300ft from the 32nd floor luxury flat at the Jumeirah Beach Resort.

Moments before, Louise Botham, 30, had thrown gifts from him off the balcony and said she was going to leave him after their argument turned violent.

Giving evidence at the hearing at County Hall in Kendal, Cumbria, Ms Botham said she did not think he meant to kill himself and that alcohol had been a "primary factor"..

The inquest also heard Mr Guest was under stress from a heavy workload at the oil rig where he was employed and endured a disrupted sleep pattern.

Ms Botham said: "He was working in a high pressure job and he was on a rig in a room on his own for a month at a time.

"He was working constantly, there was a lot of pressure on him to find oil, as oil is running out in Dubai."

The solicitor, originally from Widnes, Cheshire, had recently flown out to move in with him after the couple first met in North Wales.

She said he did not have a drink problem but was a "typical binge drinker" who used alcohol as a "massive stress relief".

On the night of his death on July 12 2008. he had just finished another long stint at the rig where he worked on a month on/month off basis and had not slept before they went out for dinner.

He had already had a number of "strong cocktails" before he went on to drink double rum and cokes at a hotel bar.

"Ryan had already drank quite a lot by that time," she said. "The people we had just met had only started drinking. He was already worse for wear."

A row developed between the pair as they waited for a taxi home which led to Mr Guest taking the battery out of her mobile phone, she said.

The argument continued when they reached the flat.

"He was very drunk, between being angry and upset," she said. "His mood was fluctuating

"It was the first time we had ever argued."

She locked herself in the bathroom as he banged on the door and then attacked her when she came out, she said.

"He pinned me down on the sofa and punched me on the arm. I pushed him off and threw a glass at the TV." she said.

She then told him she was leaving the apartment and he would never see her again.

Then she gathered up all the gifts he had given her during their relationship, including teddy bears, and threw them off the balcony.

Moments later Mr Guest followed outside.

"He ran out to the balcony, jumped on the table and said 'I'm going'," she said. "That's all he said."

She added: "I think that he is a very impulsive person. If he had just a little less drink it would not have happened. I think the alcohol was a primary factor.

"I do not think he meant to happen what happened."

A post-mortem showed he died from multiple injuries.

Recording a narrative verdict, South Cumbria Deputy Coroner Shirley Evans said: "Ryan Guest died as a result of his own actions while not understanding their inevitable consequences because he was under the influence of alcohol."

Ms Botham was arrested by police in Dubai following the death but was later released without charge.

Mr Guest's parents, Keith and Frances, from Kendal, attended the hearing.

A tearful Mrs Guest said: "He was full of life. Everything he did had to be fun. He moved at a fast pace.

"It was all new. He had achieved so much. He had a job that surpassed anybody else I know at that age. He was bound to be subject to pressure."

She said the family had received an email from the Dubai Petroleum employee a week before his death saying how much he was looking forward to seeing them after they booked to fly out to Dubai.

She told the inquest she was worried about the height of his apartment but added: "He said it was not high enough and the views are fantastic.

"He did not mean this to happen. This was not him at all.

"He would not have given it much thought. We will never know what he was really thinking."

PA