A Bradford man who fell to his death in a Bournemouth pub was “the party piece to all occasions”, his wife said.

Philip Brian Shaw, 47, from Low Moor, died in the early hours of Sunday, February 23, 2020, after falling on his way to the toilets in the Christopher Creeke Wetherspoons pub.

An 11-person jury returned the conclusion the death was an accident after a two-day inquest at Bournemouth Town Hall, despite the court hearing the stairs would not comply with building regulations if it had been built now.

Following the hearing, Lisa Shaw said: “He was a family-orientated man, his family meant the world. He was happy all the time and just wanted to make everybody around him happy. He was the party piece to all occasions. I miss him so much, he said to me ‘as long as I make you laugh babe, every single day’ and he did, every single day.

“His family meant the world to him, and we all miss him so much. He’s had two grandchildren born since that will never meet him, he was just our world.

“Our marriage was happy, crazy. We went to work, we came home, we chatted, watched TV, we had a touring caravan, we had a dog, it was just a typical marriage.

“He’s irreplaceable, nobody will ever fill his shoes.

“He didn’t have a bad bone in his body, he just wanted to make people laugh and smile and he usually did.”

Months before Mr Shaw’s fall, two non-fatal incidents occurred at the same set of 15 stairs in June and July, the inquest heard, with the former being taken to hospital via air ambulance.

Following these incidents, health and safety manager for Wetherspoons, Paul Carrington, engaged with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to assess the risk of the stairs.

Changes were made to the stairs following previous incidents, including improved lighting and yellow nosing on the edge of the top and bottom stairs, jurors were told.

Mr Carrington did confirm that if the building had been built now, the narrow staircase would not comply with building regulations, however such regulations cannot be applied retrospectively.

A report was commissioned to be carried out by HSE, but was not seen at the time of Mr Shaw’s fall.

Mark Liddle, of HSE, found there to be some inconsistencies with the dimensions of the stairs, for example step eight was six centimetres on one side in length and 6.25 centimetres on the other side.

Mr Liddle said this “could have increased” the risk of falling but found the building did not breach any legislation.

The stairs leading to the toilet have been closed since the incident, with the company seeking alternative access.

Matthew Taylor, of the environmental health office at BCP Council, found there to be some movement in step eight, which he believed to be the step Mr Shaw fell from, but also confirmed the pub did not breach any legislation.

Following approximately an hour of deliberations, the jury returned a conclusion of an accident.

Mrs Shaw added: “This was another hurdle that I had to get over. I’m relieved and sad at the same time. This was the final thing.”