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A dad fell to his death in an apartment building’s lift shaft.

Mark Faulding, who was described as being claustrophobic and prone to “anxiety,” forced open the lift doors when it abruptly stopped between floors.

An inquest jury heard the 49-year-old began to “panic” when the lift stopped and had attempted to climb down to the floor below but did not make it and fell three floors, a distance of 15 to 20 metres, reports Yorkshire Live.

Mark was in the lift at Olicana House in Little Germany, Bradford, with a friend, Kevin Hodgson, when it came to a stop between floors three and four on May 19, 2021.

Mr Hodgson told the inquest in Bradford how they began shouting for help, pressing the alarm button, and kicking the lift walls to attract attention.

He said they had waited for 10 to 15 minutes before prising open the inner doors of the lift.

He said Mark “just started panicking saying he needed to get out,” although Mr Hodgson had not been aware at the time that his friend had claustrophobia.

The lift was large enough to accommodate 13 people, the hearing was told.

Mark had tried to get out of the lift “legs first” and was holding onto the lift floor with his hands before falling, said Mr Hodgson.

He described how Mark had tried to “shimmy out” feet first.

Senior coroner Martin Fleming asked Mr Hodgson if he had considered this to be dangerous.

“At the time I didn’t think…with hindsight I wish I had kept him in the lift.”

Mr Hodgson said that Mark had forced open the inner doors and that the outer door to floor three had “opened on their own”.

When the floor three doors opened, Mark said he needed to “get out” and said “I’m going,” according to Mr Hodgson.

He said he had heard a noise shortly after Mark climbed out of the lift.

“I saw he was not on the third floor. I heard a bump. I just went numb.”

He shouted his friend’s name and eventually, firefighters arrived. They carried out CPR but Mark could not be saved.

“I kept shouting ‘Mark, Mark’ – there was no answer.”

Mr Faulding’s daughter, Chelsea, told the hearing that she and her father had a “great bond” and that his death had “destroyed” the family.

In a statement, she said her dad had suffered low moods in the past and, on the day of his death, had been unhappy that his housing provider had served an eviction notice on him for breaking the rules by having a dog, Pablo.

“He refused to get rid of Pablo even though he had been warned several times. On the day he died he had an eviction notice served.”

Chelsea described her dad as a “panicker”, adding: “I knew that if he was stuck in a lift he would be panicking.”

The inquest was told that Mark had cannabis in his blood at the time of his death but it was not possible to say if this had impaired his brain functions.

There was also evidence of prior cocaine use.

An examination of his body discovered that he had grease on his hands which police said was consistent with him touching the lift doors.

The hearing was told that Olicana House was under renovation at the time of Mark’s death and that the lift had previously stopped between floors.

Detectives investigated the incident and, after ruling out foul play, handed the investigation over to the Health and Safety Executive.

The inquest continues.

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