A British man found dead at the bottom of a stairwell whilst on a stag do in Hungary may have been the victim of foul play, an inquest has heard.
Paul Bush was discovered with his trousers around his ankles in a Hungarian 'place of consortium' at the end of a night out.
The 36-year-old was last seen on CCTV entering a building in Budapest with an alleged prostitute. Minutes later the woman was caught on camera leaving the 'place of consortium', along with a second woman and another man.
Mr Bush's body was found six hours later at the bottom of a stairwell and he had been robbed of his wallet and mobile phone, with his shoes and socks off and his trousers down.
Budapest is a popular destination for British stag dos. Credit: Creative Commons
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A post mortem revealed Mr Bush, a satellite TV aerial installer, had suffered internal bleeding, broken vertebrae in his neck and back and multiple rib and skull fractures having fallen from a certain height.
The inquest heard Mr Bush, who lived in Weymouth, Dorset, had organised the stag do for groom Steve Palmer in 2014.
The group of 12 friends had arrived in Budapest earlier in the day and set out at 8.45pm on a pub crawl of six bars. Over the course of the night the group became separated and returned to the hotel at different times.
Mr Bush was last seen by his friends on a dance floor at about 1am, but nobody noticed Mr Bush was missing until 10.50am the following morning when the group met for breakfast and did a head count.
The group went to the police station to report him missing and were told he had been found dead.
Friend Henry Hardwicke said: "The policeman said they saw Paul on CCTV with a girl in a white dress. He went into a building with her and she was a whore. She came out, he didn't.
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"We were all completely shocked and devastated."
Detective Constable Peter Gray of Dorset police told the coroner a report from Hungarian police said: "Foul play cannot be ruled out." But it was also said that they had closed the investigation, ruling it was an accident.
He said Dorset police did not know if all the people seen entering and leaving the building on the CCTV had been identified and interviewed or if forensic samples the police had taken from the scene, including cigarette ends and condoms, had been looked at.
DC Gray said: "There are unanswered questions about the police investigation - have any persons from the CCTV been identified, located and interviewed, have any forensic samples been submitted to identify further lines of enquiry?"
Mr Sheriff Payne, the Dorset coroner, said he was not satisfied Mr Bush's death had been an accident and could not rule out foul play.
He said: "I think it is significant that no marks were found to his face, which would suggest he was not subjected to any direct assault, but I cannot exclude the possibility that someone was involved.
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"He was found with his trousers around his ankles, his shoes and socks separate from his body - quite why that happened we don't know.
"I am not satisfied that it's an accident because of the lack of information. The police say the woman was spoken to but she has not been able to provide any useful information.
"The police are unwilling to provide any further and fuller information into the circumstances and I am unhappy to record a verdict of accidental death.
"I have no proof he was assaulted or anybody deliberately intended to cause him harm so the only verdict I can record is an open verdict."
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