AN 18-YEAR-OLD TRAINEE BUILDER died of a broken neck after a gust of wind blew him from a roof, an inquest was told yesterday.

Patrick Davidson, of Camlough in Co Armagh, was working on a roof in Dundalk when a strong gust of wind caused him to lose his balance in April 2002.

The Star reports that the inquest heard Davidson was holding a sheet of wood at the time, which aided his fall.

Dr John Ryan, who performed the post-mortem at Louth county hospital, said Davidson died of a broken neck sustained after a fall from a height.

The inquest into his death heard that Gardaí investigations into Davidson’s death had to be abandoned because none of the other builders working on the site – all of whom were from Northern Ireland – would agree to travel to the Republic to give details.

The Dundalk coroner Ronan Maguire said he had no choice but to close the file on Davidson’s death.

Maguire said there was no way any prosecution in the case could be brought because nobody on the roof at the time had made themselves available to the Gardaí or to the Health and Safety Authority.