A CROWD watching a World Cup match looked on as a man plunged to his death from the top of a multi-storey car park, an inquest heard.

Shawn Griffith was killed instantly, but a coroner ruled he may have believed he could fly, or might have slipped accidentally to his death.

The 46-year-old former stabbing victim had told friends and family he believed a man - jailed for life - could have hired someone to hunt him down.

His mother told the inquest she felt his devastating death was as a result of foul play.

However, an open verdict was recorded, with the coroner stating that it was probable nobody would ever know the truth behind what happened to cause Mr Griffith's death.

Many people were watching Serbia take on Brazil in the World Cup on an outdoor screen at The Village on Station Hill when he died in June.

Office worker Jessica Boase said she had a view of the NCP car park and saw the man on top of the 19-storey building at around 8.40pm on June 26.

She said: "I watched the man for three minutes as he walked along the car park's concrete perimeter wall a couple of times. He stopped and leaned to look over the perimeter wall."

Annektrin Ott told the inquest she was convinced she had killed Mr Griffith by driving over him, as she approached the exit barrier to the car park and heard a loud thud.

The HR manager, added: "At first I thought I had hit something. I got out of the car, turned to the rear and saw a person laying on the floor and I thought I had killed the person.

"The person didn't move, I believed I had hit someone. Then I believed the person had jumped from a height and I started screaming."

A post mortem examination determined that he died of massive 'cranial and cerebral destruction' and that Ms Ott was not to blame.

Mr Griffith, who lived in Katesgrove Lane, Reading, had been using heroin and cocaine for many years and sought help for his addiction.

His family told the coroner they suspected foul play, with his mother Juliet McConney saying he was in good spirits the day he died.

She added: "For Shawn to have jumped from the top floor of the car park, where drug dealers are known to operate, seems absurd to us. Shawn had been threatened and was showing concerns for his safety.

"Around about this time Shawn had met a friend who had been in prison with the person who had stabbed Shawn in the past. The friend said this bloke is gonna pay someone to find out where I live and kill me."

Summing-up, coroner Ian Wade said he accepted Mrs McConney's concerns and added there was no evidence of foul play.

He said: "Shawn was, at the time, under the influence of cocaine. Shawn appears to have done what he had done while he was drugged and the effects of cocaine can, it seems to me, cause a dysfunction or a failure of judgement.

"I feel compelled to enter an open conclusion. I think we are just left with an unanswered question."