A dad has paid a heartbreaking tribute to his son as his family continue to search for answers about the time leading up to his death. A coroner concluded that Luke Riley died after an accidental fall from a staircase in Manchester city centre in September last year, but by the time police went to investigate vital CCTV evidence, it had been overwritten.
The 20-year-old, from Stockport, was found dead on the morning of September 24 last year off Deansgate - between the Wren's estate agents and the Deansgate-Castlefield Metrolink railway bridge. A police investigation was launched but cops failed to check CCTV footage from the area within 30-days, meaning it had been overwritten by the council.
Therefore an inquest into Luke's death held last month couldn't rule out that Luke was pushed from the staircase, as there was no CCTV to show how he got there, and who could have been with him at the time. Senior Coroner Nigel Meadows concluded that opportunities to preserve evidence that may have given a clearer picture of how Luke died were 'not taken', leading him to write to the chief constable of GMP about these concerns.
