Raymond Willis

Raymond Willis was found dead on Collector Road in Castle Bromwich in the pouring rain on the night of 3 August 1984.

He died from multiple injuries including a fractured skull. His injuries were consistent with him having fallen from a 3ft high wall that ran alongside Collector Road where he was found.

His body was found by a motorist at the foot of a high wall.

He had lived in Freasley Road, Shard End, Birmingham and had been a Jaguar car worker.

His father said that he knew his son had died after he read after work the following day in the Evening Mail that an unidentified, tattooed man's body had been found.

It was heard that Raymond Willis often went for a walk late at night and that he might have visited an old Saxon fort on the Chelmsley Wood collector road which gave a good view of the surrounding area. his mother added that he often went out walking or jogging late at night.

His mother said that on the night of 3 August 1984 that Raymond Willis went out for a drink and returned home about 11pm and that that was the last time the family saw him alive.

The inquest heard that there was no evidence that he had been struck by a car.

The pathologist said that it seemed that he had fallen from the wall. He said that Raymond Willis died instantly.

His inquest heard that there may have been a struggle with another person, or that he might have taken his own life in a sudden fit of depression, although there was no evidence for that.

The Coroner noted that all the evidence pointed to him having fallen from the parapet of the wall, but that there was insufficient evidence to be certain about what led to the fall.

An open verdict was returned.