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Wedding ceremony is cancelled after bride's brother falls from Greek hotel balcony
Last updated at 00:06am on 24.05.07A British man has died after falling from a hotel balcony on the Greek island where he had gone to attend his sister's wedding.
The tragedy happened on Rhodes 48 hours before Christopher Peck, 25, was due to attend his sister Wendy's marriage along with around 80 friends and relatives, who were combining the wedding with a holiday.
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The hotel: Christopher Peck fell from a second-floor balcony 48 hours before the wedding
The ceremony was cancelled and Mr Peck's heartbroken family flew back to Britain to arrange his funeral.
His identity was confirmed by Greek authorities.
But it remained unclear how he came to fall from the second-floor the morning after his prospective brother-in-law's stag party.
According to senior Rhodes police officer Michalis Kaliorakis, the fall happened at 5.30am local time on Monday in the town of Kalathos in the south of the island.
Police said Mr Peck, believed to be a mechanic, fell from a balcony at the town's two-star Daniel Hotel after drinking on the veranda with a group of British friends. He was killed instantly, said Mr Kaliorakis.
The sadness of the tragedy was increased by the fact Mr Peck's death came on the first anniversary of his own wedding to Gemma Savory, 23.
A devastated relative said: "Gemma is still in Rhodes. She hasn't decided when to come home. Everyone is desperately upset."
Last year, Mrs Peck wrote about her upcoming marriage on the Friends Reunited website: "Got a mortgage and getting married in May 2006 so definitely feel like I'm getting older fast. Having a great time though!"
Friends were waiting to comfort Mr Peck's parents, Greg and Valerie, at the family home in St Albans, Hertfordshire.
Mr Peck senior is a lorry driver and a keen fisherman.
As well as Christopher and Wendy, 27, he and his wife have a younger son Robert, 23.
One neighbour said: "Christopher was a lovely chap and he was celebrating his first wedding anniversary this week. I understand he was found on Monday morning in the grounds outside the hotel. It's so sad."
A report from local police chief Panayotis Pastakos said the British group appeared to be having two parties the night before Mr Peck died - a "stag do" for the men and a "hen party" for Miss Peck. It suggested Mr Peck "lost his balance after feeling dizzy" while preliminary blood tests at the hospital indicated he had been drinking before the fall.
However, another explanation seemed possible after a family friend revealed that in the past family and friends had found Mr Peck sleepwalking. "Everyone is in total shock," a friend of the family said.
"Christopher was a lovely man and no one can quite believe this has happened.
"The family do not believe he had been drinking excessively.
"They obviously need to know what happened."
