The 50-year old widow of Mike Jones-Mathias told reporters that she could not believe that her husband, the owner of a cafe in Cardiff, would ever leave a bar without paying his bill. The inquest refused to rule that the former UK army officer’s death was an unlawful killing.
An inquest hearing in Wales has recorded a narrative verdict in the death of a former Brish army officer who died on March 24th this year as a result of traumatic brain injury received outside a Pattaya Go-Go Club last May.
An inquest held in Pontypridd Wales in the United Kingdom this week rejected pleas from the family of a former army officer and businessman Mike Jones-Mathias to record death of unlawful killing.
After the verdict, Mrs Jones-Mathias vented her frustration with the decision including the fact the circumstances that led up to her husband’s primary injury in Thailand were not aired fully at the hearing in particular CCTV footage of an altercation outside an entertainment venue in Pattaya.
Suffered traumatic brain injury outside a Pattaya bar last May while on a working trip to the resort city
The 55-year-old British man died on March 24th this year in the UK from complications arising from a traumatic brain injury he suffered on the 17th May 2018 when he was hit by a single punch following a disagreement with doormen at a Pattaya entertainment venue.
Thai man cleared of criminal charges in court
A Thai man named as Phumphat Tanosingh, working as a security officer at the club, was later charged by Thai police in Pattaya with an assault causing grievous bodily harm to the UK man outside the popular venue. The Thai man claimed self-defence and was cleared of the charge by a Thai criminal court after considering the facts in the matter.
CCTV footage shows the UK man throwing a punch
This may have been justified on the basis of the CCTV footage which shows the former British officer, walking backwards and then throwing a punch into the air as he was approached by the Thai doormen following which he receives a single, clinical blow that caused severe brain damage and eventually led to his death.
Tried to dial emergency services inside club
The UK man was taken by rescue services after the incident to the local hospital where doctors undertook emergency brain surgery on the man’s frontal lobe on the right-hand side. Six weeks later, he was evacuated to a hospital in Wales.
Barmen said that Mr Jones Matthias refused to settle his bill at the Go-Go establishment
Evidence presented by the security guards at the club named as Mandarin A Go-Go suggested that Mr Jones-Matthias had failed to settle an account at the establishment.
This week when questioned by reporters after the verdict of the inquest hearing, his wife Veronica adamantly said that could not have been the case. ‘For the record, I know my husband would never have left a bar without paying a bill,’ she told reporters.
It has also emerged that 5 minutes before the UK man was seen emerging from the bar followed by the two men, he had tried to dial an emergency telephone number seeking help.
Died in March in Wales from complications
Mr Jones-Mathias died at the University Hospital of Wales from complications arising from the brain injury including pneumonia.
Medical expert, Professor Phillip Smith said that both conditions ultimately led to his death. The acting Coroner Graeme Hughes gave a narrative verdict of the UK man’s death stating: ‘The deceased died as a consequence of complications arising from head injuries sustained following a punch to the head.’
Graduated as a British army officer in 1984
The UK man was a former British army officer who served in the first Gulf war having graduated in 1984. He later went on to become an Operations Manager with an international engineering company working extensively in the Middle East.
On a working trip to Thailand
In May 2018, he was on his way back to his hotel in Pattaya when he ventured to frequent the Go-Go bar. He had earlier had a dinner meeting with his team including senior management on a working trip to Thailand.
Owner of a popular café in Cardiff
Mr Jones-Mathias is also originally from the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales and is also known in Cardiff for being the owner, with his wife Veronica of The Plan, a popular café located in the Morgan Shopping Centre.
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Further reading:
Police crack the whip on late-night drinking in Pattaya after bizarre shootout at a local Thai bar
