Newport man who died after 20ft fall from window ‘may have been smoking’ (From South Wales Argus)

Newport man who died after 20ft fall from window ‘may have been smoking’

9:27am Tuesday 27th November 2012 in News By Alison Sanders and Natalie Crockett

A MAN who fell 20 feet to his death out of a bedroom windowin a “tragic accident” may have been smoking a cigarette at the time, say his parents.

Carol and John Brace, the parents of 33-year-old Joni Brace, described their son as a “very warm loving boy” who was the heart of their home. Mrs Brace said she found her son’s body in the garden of their Caerleon home on Saturday and believes he must have fallen out of the window and hit his head on the wooden table outside.

She said her son may have been smoking a cigarette at the time of the fall.

Mrs Brace said her son had been working from 7am until 7pm on Friday and remembers him arriving home that night.

She said: “He kicked his shoes off, threw his coat down, had a shower and said ‘See you in the morning, I’m going on the XBox’. He said ‘love you’ as he went up the stairs.”

Mrs Brace said her son had been staying in to save money ahead of the family’s four-week trip to Australia on December 20 to spend Christmas with his brother Jamie and his family.

Mrs Brace said Joni always had a lie-in on a Saturday and was an avid Manchester United fan so she thought it strange he was not up to watch their game.

“The bedroom door was shut upstairs and I thought he was in there. When I went in, the window was open and I shut it. I just walked outside and there he was.”

She said he would have a cigarette now and again. She said this might have been why the window was open and said he had in the past sat on the window sill to smoke.

Mr Brace said the coroner confirmed their son had died of a head injury.

Joni, a former Lliswerry High School pupil, was a qualified engineer and had been working at International Rectifier for around the last three years.

Mrs Brace said: “He was generous, the heart of our home. He was such a darling boy.

“He was funny and had the most amazing giggle. He used to tell us every single day he loved us.”

She said he “lived and breathed football”, had “fantastic mates”, liked golf and loved a drink.

Mrs Brace said they are still in disbelief over his death.

“His shoes are still there where he kicked them off.

We just keep thinking he’s upstairs. His death is just a tragic accident. It’ll take us years to come to terms with it. We never will but we’ll soldier on. We’ve got amazing family and friends.”

She said they have had great support from family and friends and thanked people for their tributes on Facebook. She said: “A chain may open but it never breaks and the family are our links. They’re our rock at the moment.”

Gwent coroner’s office confirmed the death had been reported to them and said an inquest could be opened later this week.