Man killed by falling masonry was still alive despite skull being 'broken in an eggshell manner'

A collision between a car and quad bike caused damage to a restaurant months before a piece of falling masonry killed a man drinking there, an inquest heard.

Peter Westropp, 27, was struck as he sat with four friends in the terrace area of Le Bouchon Bordelais in Battersea, south London, on August 10 last year.

Mr Westropp, a surveyor, of Scotts Lane, Shortlands, Bromley, south east London, suffered massive head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The inquest before Westminster Deputy Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe heard the restaurant had been damaged earlier that year after a quad bike and a council-owned Ford Galaxy collided.

The glass doors to the restaurant were removed and a panel above the door was cracked following the crash on March 23, 2011, the hearing was told.

Ehamparam Sasikndarajah, a senior building control officer at Wandsworth Council, told the inquest that his inspection showed the damage to the building was not an "immediate danger to the public".

The inquest also heard that rusty metal ties which held ornamental stones to the front of the 130-year-old building could have contributed to the falling masonry.

Witnesses have described the horror of seeing Mr Westropp die.

Waitress Marian Tanjala said she was inside the restaurant when she heard a noise and saw people rush towards the terrace outside.

Ms Tanjala said: "He (Mr Westropp) was bleeding. He was over a chair or table but we couldn't move him. I knew he was still alive because I was looking at him and he was breathing."

However he was pronounced dead at the scene, the inquest heard.

Pathologists Professor Sebastian Lucas and Dr Yasir Alwahab, who performed the post-mortem examination on Mr Westropp's body, previously told the inquest that the cause of death was an impact injury.

They said his skull was "broken in an eggshell manner".

A statement by air ambulance doctor Daniel Gavin Nevin, who pronounced Mr Westropp dead at the scene, said he had attempted to resuscitate him but the head injury was too severe and there were "no signs of life".