A teacher brought up in Huddersfield died after he plunged more than 10ft off an unlit road on a school trip, an inquest had heard.
Jonathan Taylor, 44, who was raised in Almondbury, had been drinking and socialising with other teachers when he slipped and fell down a steep bank while walking back from a pub near their hotel in the ski resort of Matrei in Austria earlier this year.
Father-to-be Mr Taylor lost consciousness within minutes and died as a result of injuries sustained in the impact of the fall in the early hours of March 31, the inquest heard.
The accident happened while the teacher was on a school trip with 43 pupils from Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy in Arnold, Nottingham, where he taught.
An inquest heard Mr Taylor, who lived with his wife in Arnold, had drunk a “moderate” amount of alcohol during the evening of March 30, after the pupils had gone to bed, and was nearly twice the drink-drive limit at the time of his death.
Post mortem tests showed he suffered severe injuries as a result of the impact of the fall and that he had 173mg per decilitre of alcohol in his blood at the time of his death, the inquest heard.
However the Coroner for Nottinghamshire, Miss Mairin Casey, said there was no evidence to suggest that he nor any of the other teachers had drunk to excess and that the alcohol had been consumed over a period of five to six hours.
Giving evidence James Cullen, a business teacher at the school who was also on the trip, told the inquest: “It was a sensible holiday atmosphere. We were professional and knew we had our duties the following day.”
Miss Casey said the dangers posed by the dark and dangerous unmarked and unlit road had been the dominant factor in the accident.
Resuming the inquest at Nottingham Town Hall, Miss Casey said: “This particular section of road was extremely dangerous. It was a poorly lit track. It did not have suitable provision for pedestrians; the edge of the track was crumbling away.
“If the accident had happened in this country the police would have been referring the section to the Highways Agency.”
Other teachers who were walking with Mr Taylor at the time of the accident told the inquest there was no street lighting or markings to indicate the steep drop at the side of the road.
Stephanie Woolley, an ICT teacher at the school, broke down as she described the events leading up the accident.
She told the inquest there were no signs or street lighting on the road to suggest the steep drop.
Nottinghamshire Police worked with the police in Austria to investigate the case.
Sgt Guy Cooper, who led the investigation for Nottinghamshire Police, said: “It was a socialising event. There was nothing more to it than that. We have no information to suggest excessive drinking consumption.
“It was a proportionate and sensible evening.’’
Miss Casey asked the officer: “With or without drink the hazard you have described would have been just as dangerous?”
“Yes, in conditions of low light the hazard would still be present,” Sgt Cooper replied.
Miss Casey recorded a verdict of accidental death.
She said: “I accept the evidence of Sergeant Cooper that the outcome for any pedestrian with or without the influence of alcohol would have been exactly the same.”
Mr Taylor was described by his devastated parents, Joan and John Taylor from Almondbury, as “wonderful”.
Mrs Taylor revealed that Jonathan’s wife, Alison, is due to give birth to the couple’s first child in August.
She said: “They have been together 17 years and got married in Bury St Edmunds, where Alison is originally from, in August last year.”
Jonathan has a 50-year-old sister, Fiona, who lives in Dalton and a twin, Helen, who lives in Birchencliffe.
Jonathan was educated in Almondbury. He spent a year at Huddersfield Polytechnic, studying media and IT before transferring to Loughborough to complete his degree.
