A Welsh dad-of-two died from multiple injuries after he was hit by a car whilst on a family holiday in Cyprus, an inquest has heard. Robert James Birch, known as Charlie, died at approximately 3am on June 24, 2018, after being hit by a car while walking along a roadside with another relative.
Mr Birch, who was 39 when he died, was a ground worker from Welshpool, Powys, and had been on a family holiday having been for a meal with relatives on the second night of the stay. The inquest in Pontypridd on Tuesday heard Mr Birch had been drinking at a bar in Paphos with another relative, William Pritchard, on June 23, 2018. The two had been on a table next to Demetris Ilidzides and an unnamed female companion.
The inquest heard evidence from a translated court hearing at Paphos District Court which said that, at some point, Mr Birch started to talk to the female companion. She was said to have later fallen on the ground and that Mr Birch had hit "the accused", Ilidzides, on the face. The inquest heard that the men left the bar and a "fight occurred". Mr Birch then left on foot with Mr Pritchard, walking along an "earth verge" at the side of the road.
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Ilidzides was said to have been "driving at night at high speed under the influence of alcohol" off the road resulting in him hitting Mr Birch and Mr Pritchard. Ilidzides then continued driving the rented car before eventually driving it into the sea where he and his female companion were helped out of the water by three people.
Members of the police found Mr Birch on the ground of the Peyia Road in Ayios Georgiox and Mr Pritchard was also injured at the scene. Mr Pritchard told the police that they had been hit by a car which had then fled the scene. He was then taken to Paphos General Hospital. Members of the police later found Ilidzides and the female companion walking along a road and the car was found in the sea.
A translated death investigation by Paphos District Court said that Ilidzides had been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for reckless driving on July 18, 2019. He was also sentenced to one year in prison for injuring Mr Pritchard which ran concurrently. A medical cause of death was given as multiple injuries as part of the record of inquest.
Assistant coroner for the South Wales Central area Rachel Knight offered her condolences to Mr Birch's family and said: "I cannot conceive how horrendous it must have been to go on holiday and come back without your loved one." The coroner entered a narrative conclusion, saying: "Robert was aged 39 when he died whilst on holiday in Cyprus on June 24, 2018."
The conclusion continued: "Robert was out socialising with a relative and became involved in an altercation with a man in a bar in the early hours of the morning shortly before his death. The same man went on to drive a vehicle whilst under the influence of alcohol and went on to hit Robert who was walking lawfully along the side of the road. Sadly Robert died of his injuries at the scene."
A family statement read out during the inquest said that Mr Birch, born on January 6, 1979, was the only son born to Rose and Jim Birch and was described as the "apple of their eye." Mr Birch was said to be a "doting dad" to his two daughters. "He was a brilliant dad and would have done anything to make his girls happy," the statement read. It continued: "Our sadness remains overwhelming and our lives will never be the same."
