Teenage sleepwalker falls to his death from holiday flat

Troy Heather, 18, was staying with his girlfriend and her parents in their second-floor apartment on Minorca.

Hairdresser Danielle Ward, also 18, was woken at 3am on Sunday by the sound of her boyfriend hitting the ground 25ft below their flat.

She ran downstairs and raised the alarm but Mr Heather, who had suffered severe head injuries, died in hospital four hours later.

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Before going to bed he had been awake for more than 24 hours and his family in Surrey believe exhaustion could have caused a recurrence of the problem which they thought he had outgrown.

His father Nick, a 42-year-old carpenter, said: "When Troy was growing up we used to have to bolt all the doors and windows at night because he would sleepwalk sometimes.

"It was only once every six months or so, so there never seemed any need to get medical advice. It started when he was ten but by the age of 16 we thought he had almost grown out of it. He only seemed to do it when there was something on his mind."

Mr Heather, who was a salesman for an upmarket furniture company and lived in Chertsey, had flown from Gatwick at 2am on Saturday and did not get to bed until 1am the following day.

His father added: "Perhaps the fact that he'd been awake for 24 hours had an effect on him. Four years ago when we were in France together was the last time I can remember that he sleepwalked.

"He walked out of his room in the middle of the night and walked to one of the restaurants in the resort. One of the staff found him and brought him back. It was only when he was back in his room that he actually woke up.

"He meant the world to me and he was my mate as well as my son."

Mr Heather's mother Lynn, a 42-year-old dental nurse, said: "I said goodbye to him on Friday. He called up and said, 'Bye mum, I love you' and I replied, 'I love you too'. That was the last thing we said to each other before he died.

"Two months ago he had got a new job and his bosses had promoted him already. He lived for Danielle. They had been together for three years, and I'm sure they would have gone on to marry each other.

"He was the sort of chap who enjoyed going to the cinema or out for dinner with his girlfriend and their friends. He was also really into weight lifting. Before he met Danielle he was a huge fan of carp fishing. Sometimes he would want to go in the middle of the night and I would come with him in my pyjamas if he wanted someone with him."

Miss Ward and her parents Steven and Becky, from Virginia Water, Surrey, are expected to bring Mr Heather's body back to the UK this week. Police on Minorca have launched an investigation but a spokesman said they were treating it as a tragic accident.

The Wards have owned their twobedroom flat in the Hamilton Court apartment beachside complex at Santo Tomas for many years. They had spent the day on the beach with Mr Heather and went to a restaurant for dinner before retiring for the night.

A spokesman for the Mateu Orfila hospital in the Spanish island's capital, Mahon, said Mr Heather was resuscitated three times by paramedics on the way to hospital but was pronounced dead at 7am on Sunday.

A receptionist at the apartments, which are mainly used by British tourists, said: "Everyone here is in a state of complete shock. The girl's parents have been regular visitors for many years.

"They have told me many times how much they love the island and love coming here. They are one of the nicest families you could ever meet. This is a very family-orientated resort and this particular family is always impeccably behaved."