A RETIRED school teacher died after falling off the roof of his holiday home, an inquest heard today (Tuesday.)

Dr Angus Thomas, 64, and his wife Anne, from Bricket Wood, had been enjoying some time at their house in Paphos, Cyprus, when the fatal accident happened in November 2007.

Dr Thomas, who was from St Lawrence Way, had gone onto the roof of the single storey villa to clean the solar panel but moments later Mrs Thomas heard a crash and ran outside to find her husband lying injured on the patio.

Although conscious, he was “clearly distressed and injured” and was taken to hospital where scans revealed he had fractured ribs, a punctured lung, a fractured skull and possible bleeding into the brain.

He was transferred to another hospital for specialist treatment but his condition deteriorated and he died there on December 13, several weeks after the fall.

When his body was repatriated a post-mortem was carried out and revealed that Dr Thomas, who had a PhD in Philosophy and was a master of education, suffered multiple fractures of the skull and damage and swelling to the brain, as well as bleeding inside the brain.

At the inquest at Hatfield Coroners’ Court, deputy coroner Graham Danbury recorded that his death was accidental and caused by massive pulmonary embolism and bronchopneumonia as well as brain damage.

He explained that “bureaucracy” had prevented the inquest from taking place earlier as vital documents, which had to be obtained from Cyprus, had taken a considerable amount of time to arrive.