Tourist jumps to death from hotel roof

PHUKET TOWN: A 67-year-old Australian tourist leapt to his death yesterday evening from the roof of the City Hotel in the heart of Phuket Town. The tourist, John Newman Cleverley, had been coming to Phuket for 10 years, arriving alone and staying up to a month each time at the nearby Suksabai Hotel. Police said Mr Cleverley walked into the City Hotel just before 7 pm. Staff, believing him to be a guest, paid no attention when he got into a lift and rode it to the top floor, before gaining access to the roof and jumping off. An employee who heard a noise and went to investigate found Mr Cleverley lying dead in the hotel car park. A subsequent autopsy showed that he had a broken neck and broken back. The cause of death was recorded as heart failure. In his wallet, police found a card from a clinic in Phuket and confirmed with the clinic that the deceased had visited a psychiatrist just two days before his death. Police have appealed for anyone with information on how to contact Mr Cleverley’s family to contact the police department on (076) 212115.