Funeral being held today for Rose Green man who died in freak accident

The service for Chris Riley will be held at St Thomas a'Becket Church today (Friday, September 18). It will be followed by his burial at Bognor Cemetery in Chalcraft Lane.

Mr Riley, 43, of Gossamer Lane, Rose Green, ran Riley's Scaffolding.

He slipped while trying to jump across a two-foot wide gap between third-floor balconies at Sandbanks Hotel in Poole, Dorset.

Son Nicky, 23, grabbed him as he hung from a balcony wall but he slipped through his grasp and fell 40ft to the ground.

Mr Riley's wife Clair said his father David, 71, was a Freemason and a group of family and friends were at Sandbanks for an annual ladies' weekend organised by the group.

She said the accident, on September 6, occurred because her husband '“ 'a fun-loving man who adored his family' '“ was locked out.

Mrs Riley, 40, added: "We had been in the bar having a wonderful night and Chris went upstairs to get more cash at about 2.30am.

"He had locked himself out of our room so he woke Nicky and asked him to call me to come up with our room card.

"But while Nicky popped to the loo, Chris must have decided to try to jump over to our balcony and let himself in.

"Nicky came out of the bathroom and heard his dad screaming his name. He found Chris hanging from our balcony wall. He ran over and tried to help him up but his dad slipped through his hands.

"The gap was only a couple of feet, you could touch one side from the other. Chris tried to leap between the two but must have slipped.

"One minute we were all having a great laugh, the next we were gathered around his body while paramedics tried to revive him.

"A friend came to get me from the bar and I held Chris in my arms waiting for the ambulance. I was begging him not to die, telling him to wake up and stop being so silly.

"Our friends and family were all around us but he didn't wake up. We were with him until 5am before they took him away.

"Chris was the love of my life. Everyone called him the diamond geezer. He was a man's man and loved a drink with the lads, but he was also a real family man.

"He was so full of life. I can't believe he has gone like that."

The couple first met aged 15 and had just celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary.

They had two other sons together '“ Kris, 15, who was at Sandbanks, and Louis, 18, who was at home with his twins who were born on Christmas Eve last year.

Mr Riley, who liked sport and was especially keen on golf, had another son from a previous relationship '“ Damien, 23, who lives in Canterbury, Kent.

Mr Riley was a scaffolder all his working life and set up his own firm last year. The family moved to Rose Green from Mitcham, in Surrey, four years ago.

Mrs Riley said: "We have family down here and had a caravan on the Church Farm site.

"It was a natural thing for us to decide to move down here a few years ago."

A Dorset police spokesman said: "There are no suspicious circumstances.

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"This appears to have been a tragic accident and we are making inquiries on behalf of the coroner."

An inquest was opened and adjourned in Bournemouth. A post-mortem examination recorded the cause of death as multiple injuries.

Susan Hyder, financial controller of Sandbanks Hotel, said: "We would like to express our sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased for his loss of life in such tragic circumstances."

Floral tributes are requested through Reynolds funeral directors of Bognor on 01243 864745.

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