// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Holiday balcony inquest hears engineer may not have known he was falling to his death
Kieran Hughes died in the early hours of 11 July 2025
A software engineer may not have known he was falling to his death from a balcony, an inquest has heard.
Kieran Hughes, 25, from Nant Gwynant, Gwynedd, died in the early hours of 11 July, 2025, while on holiday in Malta with three friends.
A post-mortem examination by Maltese authorities found there was a "substantial level" of alcohol in his blood.
The inquest at Caernarfon Coroner's Court heard there was no evidence of third-party involvement, and coroner Elizabeth Dudley-Jones concluded his death was an accident.
His dad, Alan, said the family endured "heartache all day, every day". Hughes' friends said he had been a high achiever, "a legend and a genius".
In July 2025, Hughes and his friends went to St Julian's in Malta and stayed at the Cavalieri Art Hotel.
On 10 July, the court was told, they left the hotel at about 19:00 BST, went to dinner, a casino and elsewhere, drinking beer, cocktails and limoncello.
At about 04:15 on 11 July, a member of the public went into the hotel to say a man was lying on the ground outside.
Police were called and found a man "in a pool of blood" who looked "lifeless".