A POOLE man found by dog walkers under the suspension bridge in Alum Chine died of multiple injuries, an inquest heard.

Walker Florian Gornak, of Westbourne, tried to resuscitate Robert Brocklehurst, 50, but he was declared dead at the scene by paramedics at 10pm on January 15.

Mr Brocklehurst, a separated dad-of-four, had spent the day with his mother and spoken to his son over the phone from his Canford Heath home at around 8.30pm, the court heard yesterday .

Mr Gornak, who had set out for a walk with his girlfriend and dog at around 9.30pm, said: “We encountered someone under the bridge. We thought it may be a drunk at first. Then we saw something was coming from him and realised it was blood.”

An empty liquor bottle and a half empty cigarettes packet were found around 50 metres away.

A post mortem revealed Mr Brocklehurst had multiple injuries pointing to a fall from a considerable height, the court heard. A small amount of alcohol was found in his blood.

Recording an open verdict, coroner Sheriff Payne said: “I really cannot be sure if he deliberately took himself off the bridge.”