A drunken teenager fell 50ft to his death while hopping over rooftops after a night out in an attempt to get a ‘cool view’ of the city below.
Harry Calam, 19, and his two friend jumped over a fence at a construction site and scaled a scaffolding tower to reach a shared rooftop above a row of retail units so they could look down at the bar where he worked.
An inquest heard Harry, who loved adventure according to his devastated mum, had been moving from one roof to another before falling off one ledge wrongly thinking there was a lower rooftop below.
Harry and two friends he worked with, along with others from neighbouring bars, had gone out for drinks in York after finishing work on the night of June 23 last year.
After downing their final drinks at 4am, the group were chatting at a nearby McDonald’s.
As they left, Alfred Miller, who had worked with Harry for nine months prior to his death, went to a construction fence in the Daveygate area to urinate.
He mentioned he had already climbed the fence and walked up the scaffolding to a shared roof above some retailers. He encouraged Harry and the other friend to join him to observe the ‘cool view’.
The friend climbed over the fence into the construction site and Harry followed him, while the other friend stayed in the street.
The pair climbed up to the roof of the building then called for the other man to join them, which he did.
The roof area was large with parts at different heights and the three lads began ‘hopping’ between the levels on the hot dry night, North Allerton Coroner’s Court heard.
After about 15 minutes, the two other friends walked across the roof to see if they could look at their workplace, Kennedy’s Bar and Restaurant, down below in Little Stonegate.
They looked back to see Harry swing his legs over a ledge and drop to what he thought was the floor beneath
‘Unfortunately, the roof level was not there, and Harry fell to the ground below,’ Coroner Alison Norton said.
The two friends walked to the edge of the roof and were horrified to see Mr Calam lying motionless below.
They rushed down to their friend, who was not moving, and dialled 999.
The emergency operator told one of the friends to start CPR until paramedics took over.
But despite their desperate attempts to revive him Harry had suffered devastating brain injuries and was pronounced dead at 4.40am.
Mum Eileen Calam, said her son had a love of the outdoors and adventure. He had been ‘very happy’ working a bar and was enjoying making new friends.
North Yorkshire Police found there were ‘appropriate safety railings’ on the scaffolding, and the site was fenced off with signs in place telling pedestrians not to enter.
Tests revealed Harry was twice the legal drink drive limit.
Recording a conclusion of death by misadventure, Ms Norton said she was satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that Harry was intending to ‘hop’ from one roof to another ‘in a manner he had already been doing’ when he fell to his death.