THE death of a ‘well-loved’ father-of-six cannot be pinpointed to a specific incident after he was involved in a fight and fell from height twice in a matter of hours, an inquest heard.

Gary Roscoe’s body was found with head injuries under a bridge near Deansgreave Road, Bacup, on January 30 in 2018.

An inquest heard Mr Roscoe, 31, was involved in a fight with his brother, Julian Roscoe, on January 29, before he jumped out of a window onto some bins at his home and jumped off a high wall hours later.

The inquest heard Mr Roscoe became involved in a fight with his brother at his home in Plantation Street at around 8pm.

Giving evidence, Julian said he threw around five punches at his brother in self-defence and the pair suffered facial injuries, but the fight, over a sarcastic remark, soon stopped and the brothers parted ways.

Detective Inspector Tim McDermott told the inquest that later on in the evening three police officers visited Gary at his home after receiving reports of concerns for his welfare.

He said: “Police were not looking to arrest him, they wanted Mr Roscoe to go to hospital.

“They said Gary went upstairs to put his shoes on. As the minutes went by they realised he was taking too long.

“They went to check on him and they saw the window was open.”

The inquest heard it was a long drop and it was possible Mr Roscoe had used a satellite dish to hang off as he tried to get down.

DI McDermott said: “To fall from that height and hit the bins, or not, would be a fair old thump.

“From there he went to Toni Lea Crook’s (his partner) mum’s house, around 2am.

“He was exhausted and frozen from the cold, he was bleeding from his face.”

The inquest heard Mr Roscoe noticed torch light coming up from the lane and he was convinced the police were coming to arrest him.

He then ran out of the house and jumped over a garden wall onto a frozen field.

DI McDermott said investigations found the wall was around nine feet high, but due to it sloping away the measurements meant the distance was nearer 15 feet.

He said: “Gary was not in trouble. We were only there to help him.

“My officers were greatly worried."

Pathologist Dr Naomi Carter said Mr Roscoe’s medical cause of death was due to a subdural haematoma – a bleed on the brain.

She said: “The history presented to me provided me with potential incidents which could have been responsible for the bleed.

“It is impossible to say between the three incidents which could have caused the bleeding and there could have been other incidents we do not know about.”

Dr Carter said he had bruises on his face and a black eye which could have been sustained in the fight with his brother.

She added: “He had fallen on wheelie bins. He had a couple of rib fractures – these could have been caused by the fight or fall.

“Falling from considerable height could have lead to the bleed on the brain, but I cannot prove that.

“It's possible the subdural haematoma was initiated by the first incident (fall) and it could have been exacerbated (by the second fall).”

The inquest heard Gary had low levels of alcohol, ketamine and cannabis and there were no traces of natural disease.

Coroner Richard Taylor recorded a narrative conclusion, he said “Gary died on January 30 from a head injury, sustained sometime after 8pm on January 29, when he was involved in three identified and distinctive incidents, in which it was possible that the head injury was occasioned.

“However, it's not possible to determine which was more likely of resulting him the injury which led to his death.

“We know the medical cause of death but we do not know how the injury originated.

“It does not appear the fight with Julian caused it.

“We don’t know whether it is one of the falls, we don’t know if there was another incident.

“We all appreciate the police had done a very thorough investigation to track his movements.

“I offer my sincere condolences to the family.”

A family spokesman said: “Gary was a well-loved man who will be missed dearly.”