Joshua Robbins, 23, died after falling from a balcony when railings gave way, and the Metropolitan Police is investigating the incident as corporate manslaughter, a pre-inquest review heard.
Mr Robbins had ordered a takeaway pizza to his flat at Holland and Thurston Dwellings in Holborn, central London, to share with his father. He leant on the balcony railings to check for the delivery when they are said to have collapsed on January 29.
His father, Will Robbins, 49, watched his son fall to his death.
Investigation ongoing
Detective Inspector Mark Paterson told St Pancras Coroner’s Court that the scene was examined at the time, a forensic engineer attended, and CCTV has been obtained. The force is liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service.
DI Paterson said: “It’s an ongoing investigation, a lot of the material is held by ISHA who are fully compliant with requests that are being made at this stage.”
He said he hoped to provide an update by January, and senior coroner Mary Hassell scheduled another pre-inquest review for January 6 2027.
Family seeks answers
Joshua’s mother, Fiona Garrett, previously said she is fronting the fight for answers as her ex-husband is “extremely traumatised”. The 46-year-old, from Claudy, Co Londonderry, but originally from Essex, sent an email to her son’s local MP, former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, requesting a meeting.
She told the Press Association: “They came back straight away and they were like ‘we want to help’ and they’re asking for information and stuff so that’s good.
“It did bring comfort actually.
“I thought ‘oh well, if I get a reply it would just be your bog standard, written by someone else (response) and he just won’t even know that it’s gone out’, but the fact that he wrote it so he actually signed it himself at the bottom and wrote a little bit extra, it did seem really genuine.
“When I showed Will, he was just like ‘oh my god the prime minister knows who our son was’.
“I said I’d even write to the King if I had to. The point is that he did matter, and he does matter, and everyone’s child should matter.”
A Met Police spokesperson said: “At this time our investigation remains ongoing, and we continue to liaise with the Crown Prosecution Service while enquiries continue.
“These enquiries can take some time given the nature of the investigation and complexities.
“Joshua’s family continue to be updated as the investigation continues and remain supported by specialist officers.”
