Sarah Waddington and husband Steven were at their wedding hotel in Benalmadena, Costa Del Sol, Spain, when he fell six floors from the balcony.The former white collar British Middleweight Boxing Champion, known to many as 'Waddy', was on his honeymoon with his bride Sarah and a few members of their family and they had enjoyed a day of drinking before disaster struck.The couple, of Cooper Fold, Hollin, had become locked out of their apartment and as Sarah went to find some spare keys, Steven had somehow fallen over the balcony and she returned to find him holding on for his life shouting 'help me.'Before she could get to him, he slipped and fell six floors to his death, suffering multiple internal injuries and several fractures to his skull.At the inquest, Sarah said: "I left him sitting outside on the floor at wall by the balcony. As I came back I could hear him shouting 'help me' so I ran to him but before I got to him he lost grip and fell. I screamed and ran down to see him but I was kept away. I gave as much information to the Spanish authorities as possible but I was in a distressed state."The couple, who lived with adopted daughter Caragh, 14, and Sarah's son Harry, three, met in 2001 and became an item in 2006, getting engaged on New Years Eve 2007.Tragically Steven's only daughter, Nadia, died 16 years ago when she was three days old and they adopted Caragh after Sarah's auntie Colette - Caragh's mum - passed away from cancer in 2004.Coroner Simon Nelson reported how toxicology tests showed Steven's blood contained an extremely high alcohol level on the night he died, which can be compared to four-times over the legal drink-drive limit.Sarah, who was visibly upset, added in her statement that Steven was not 'staggering or anything' as if this were the case she would not have left him.But Coroner Simon Nelson suggested that this could have been down to his bravado and ability to take his alcohol.Mr Nelson took this into account when summing up the investigation and he also referred to Spanish post morten results and those of a post mortem examinations carried out by Consultant Pathologist Khaled Ahmed in the UK.To a court packed with Steven's family and friends, Mr Nelson ruled out any third party involvmenet and that any criminal activity had taken place.Recording a verdicat of accidental death, Mr Nelson said: "I have no doubts whatsoever that this was a tragic accident.
"This was not criminally suspicious and not a deliberate act, especially as Steven was enjoying what was supposed to be one of the happiest weeks of his life. It is fair to say no-one envisiged the tragic events that led to Steven's untimely death."
But Mr Nelson was damning when addressing excessive drinking and, speaking to Steven's family directly, he concluded: "This tragic accident sends out a message to you that you can then send out to others to consider some kind of caution or restraint when drinking excessive amounts of alcohol."If this were to happen then I would imagine we would not get such tragic consequences as this."