A NIGHT out with friends on holiday ended in tragedy for a Stowmarket man, an inquest heard today .Jason Gooch, 30, of Birch Road, had gone back to Hotel Olympic in Barcelona after a nightclub and it appears he went out to the balcony in his room to have a cigarette.

A NIGHT out with friends on holiday ended in tragedy for a Stowmarket man, an inquest heard today .

Jason Gooch, 30, of Birch Road, had gone back to Hotel Olympic in Barcelona after a nightclub and it appears he went out to the balcony in his room to have a cigarette.

An inquest at the Shire Hall, Bury St Edmunds, today heard that police believe he slipped while on the balcony and fell to his death in the early hours of April 16, this year.

A full police investigation was launched in Spain when his room mate found his body a couple of hours later.

It was heard how the group of friends on a week long package holiday to Barcelona, all went out to a tourist nightclub.

The majority of them, including Mr Gooch, a warehouse worker, returned to the hotel at 5am.

Doctor Peter Dean, coroner, said: “It was believed Mr Gooch had been drinking.

He was under the effects of alcohol, so to avoid bothering guests it was suggested he went to bed.”

When his room mate went in later to the room, the door to the balcony was open and he saw that his friend had fallen.

During an investigation into his death, police in Spain found his palm prints on the rail of the balcony.

Doctor Dean said: “There is no suggestion anything untoward happened. It is believed by police that he went to have a cigarette on the balcony then lost his balance and fell from the balcony.”

The cause of death was given as a fractured skull. The verdict was recorded as accidental death.

n. Pay your tributes to Jason. Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk