A 52-YEAR- OLD from Liden died on Boxing Day after finding himself locked in his flat and attempting to escape through the window, an inquest heard yesterday.

Keith Griffiths, of Derryck Evans House was in his kitchen on Christmas morning last year when the door shut behind him.

As the handle had previously fallen, the 52-year-old was unable to get out and at 10.50am lowered himself from the window. Although he landed on his feet at first he then fell on his back.

He was able to get up and let himself in his flat again. But a couple of hours later, he began experiencing pain in his leg and eventually called for an ambulance, Salisbury Coroner’s Court heard.

The Welshman was admitted to the Great Western Hospital where x-rays were performed and revealed he had broken his lumbar vertebrae on impact.

After a difficult night in hospital during which he experienced tachycardia and his heart rate rose to over 100 beats per minute, he suffered a cardiac arrest the following afternoon. Doctors were unable to resuscitate him.

Wiltshire and Swindon coroner David Ridley, sitting at Salisbury Coroners’ Court, ruled he had died as a result of a brain injury sustained during the fall.

Mr Ridley said: “Keith locked himself in his sheltered accommodation and in attempting to get out, lowered himself from the window and landed feet first on the ground before falling backwards.’’ Mr Ridley added: “At 17.50 he went into cardiac arrest and died at 6.18pm on December 26. He died as a result of brain injury caused by the fall. He died from an unintended consequence of a deliberate act.

“He died in an accident as a result of lowering himself from the kitchen window and falling backward.”