Student died in fall after cocktail of drugs

A university student died falling from a sixth floor window after becoming agitated having taken a cocktail of drugs, an inquest has heard.

Matthew Gilbert, 19, died from his injuries more than a week after falling from the window at Swansea University's Singleton Campus in April.

The inquest heard he had been smoking marijuana with a friend before taking magic mushrooms and ketamine.

Lindsay Gilbert, Matthew's mother, said she was concerned students may not know how dangerous ketamine was, saying she did not mind the university using him as an example to raise awareness as she did not "want his legacy to go under the carpet".

After his friend fell asleep, Mr Gilbert, a first year student studying law and criminology, had tried the doors of other rooms and had been asked to leave by other students who were disturbed by his erratic behaviour, the inquest in Swansea heard.

CCTV had shown Mr Gilbert pressing the lift button, but instead of waiting for it he returned to the communal kitchen from where he fell.

He was seen pacing up and down the corridor, and heard shouting "I can't do this – no, no, no". He caused damage in the communal kitchen before forcing a window open and falling.

The alert was raised by students shortly after 02:00 GMT on Sunday, 14 April.

The inquest heard that the window, which had a restrictor in place to prevent anyone from falling, had been suitably maintained and was in good working order.

Gareth Hughes, director of student life at Swansea University, said it was likely Mr Gilbert had pulled the window open enough to break the hinges and restrictor before his fall.

The inquest concluded Mr Gilbert's death was an accident.

Mrs Gilbert referred to the recent death of singer Liam Payne, who died in similar circumstances in Argentina in October, telling the hearing that "the publicity hurt a lot for a family who had been through a similar experience".

She also questioned whether the university was doing enough to raise awareness about the dangers of drugs, to which Mr Hughes responded that it uses examples to warn students about the risks of drug use.