25/04/2013 00:00
TW
0

Palma.—The family of a British club singer who drowned in Majorca last year has called for safety measures to be put in place after describing his death as “an accident waiting to happen.” Stephen Walton from Durham was on holiday with his mother Margaret in Alcudia last October when he fell into a canal near their Bellevue apartment complex. “It was an accident waiting to happen. There is no fence up around the canal and it's not well lit. There is only one small footbridge over the canal and it's a big drop into the water. Something needs to be done about it,” said Susan Cummings, sister of the victim.

Walton, who won several competitions covering Elvis songs in pubs and clubs was described as a “fun loving singer” with a love for children. “He absolutely loved them and he doted on his nieces and nephews. He was a lovely lad who was well liked by everyone. He had only been there a couple of hours before he died. We couldn't believe it,” she continued.

The Leadgate singer was found in the canal by the staff complex, just hours after arriving in the island, with “an elevated level of alcohol in his system” according to Spanish toxicologists. Pathologists working on the case said the cause of death had been “asphyxiation.” In a report prepared by officials assigned to the case, County Durham coroner Andrew Tweddle said the only person who knew what happened was the victim itself. “For whatever reason he ended up in the water. Whether he tripped or had fallen we are just not going to know. There were no witnesses. We will never know exactly what happened.”