Family of ‘gifted student’ Patrick Halpin was given false hope

The family of a “gifted and talented” student who disappeared during a college trip to London was given false hope about him being alive when mistakenly told he had boarded a plane home to Ireland.

In fact Patrick Halpin, 18, from Loughrea, Co Galway, had plunged from the roof of a Burger King outlet after walking off in search of food during a night out in Leicester Square.

His body was not found until two days later after police launched a missing person’s inquiry and scoured CCTV footage from the West End nightspot.

Concluding Mr Halpin, a “tremendous sportsman” died accidentally, coroner Angela Hodes said a “cruel twist” was as his worried family searched for clues as to his whereabouts, police were informed he had got on his plane at Gatwick.

Ms Hodes told the inquest at Westminster Coroners’ Court: “It appears that due to the particular procedure in relation to the airline, the information was given to Detective Sergeant Paul Stephens was incorrect, leading to him erroneously informing the family that Mr Halpin had checked on to his flight.

“This court will be writing to the relevant agencies to see what they can do about their procedures.”

The inquest heard Mr Halpin was “not excessively drunk”. Ms Hodes said CCTV footage from the Zoo Bar showed him “politely bumping” into people and he had been told to go and get some food to sober up. He was never seen alive again. It was not until police looked at CCTV footage that they found he had walked into a nearby Burger King, gone through a staff door, upstairs and on to the roof. His body was found on a lower section of the roof on February 6.

An autopsy concluded he died of severe brain injuries as a result of falling from a height.