Did Woolmer die in fall after downing bottle of whisky?

13 April 2012

The revelation has fuelled mounting speculation that the Pakistan cricket coach's death was not murder but a tragic accident.

A witness described how the 58-year-old sat alone in the bar of the Hotel Pegasus in Kingston after Pakistan crashed out of the ICC Cricket World Cup and 'drowned his sorrows' with a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label.

The claim adds considerable weight to suggestions by forensic experts that a tiny bone in Mr Woolmer's neck could have been broken as a result of a fall rather than by strangulation.

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'Mark Shields - the policeman charged with solving the mystery of Bob Woolmer's tragic death.

If accidental death is proved, the already tarnished investigation led by former Scotland Yard detective Mark Shields - who publicly declared he was '100 per cent certain' Mr Woolmer was strangled - will be exposed to worldwide ridicule.

As four Scotland Yard detectives prepared on Saturday night to fly out to Jamaica to assist in the inquiry, a witness told The Mail on Sunday that Mr Woolmer sat alone on the team bus after the match, looking 'extremely vexed'. At the hotel, he is said to have begun drinking almost immediately - forsaking his normal solitary glass of wine for the export-strength whisky.

Mr Woolmer's mood darkened further when most of the Pakistan touring party went off for dinner without him to the home of multi-millionaire car dealer Tariq Malik.

Mr Malik said: "Bob was supposed to come around with everyone for a banquet on Sunday - but that was obviously cancelled after his death.

"There was an open invitation for him the previous evening but the players told me he stayed back at the hotel drinking Scotch. They said he had drunk up to a bottle and was really drowning his sorrows."

Mr Malik, who moved to Kingston from Pakistan via Kenya 20 years ago, entertained the team at his palatial home for much of the previous week. He said he also met Mr Woolmer twice at the Pegasus.

"The only security I saw at the Pegasus was after Bob's death,' said Mr Malik. "Prior to that you could get into the lift and go up to the rooms unchallenged."

Although he was contacted by Jamaican police five days ago, Mr Malik has yet to be visited by an officer to record what could turn out to be vital evidence.

Police refused to comment on what Mr Woolmer may have drunk before his death until they have studied the results of toxicology and histology tests.

Deputy police chief Mr Shields stunned everyone eight days ago when he announced Mr Woolmer had died from asphyxiation after being throttled in his hotel room on March 17. He spoke of clues, which he refuses to reveal publicly, that convinced him the Pakistan World Cup coach was murdered.

But concerns about the post-mortem were expressed last week by Dr Garfield Blake, past president of the Jamaican Association of Clinical Pathologists.

Pakistani cricket authorities have also questioned the report because there were no visible signs of strangulation and because pathologist Ere Sheshaiah's initial examination was 'inconclusive'.

Even Mr Shields appeared to waver. He told the media on Thursday: "I will keep an open mind because you never know."

Mr Woolmer's son, Dale, said yesterday: "Mr Shields keeps my mother informed of every development in the investigation, however small. But he has told us nothing about speculation that my father was not murdered. We have not heard of speculation from other sources either."

There were also reports from Kingston that a blood-soaked pillow that was found in Mr Woolmer's hotel room had been sent for forensic examination.

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