The family of a 20-year-old British holidaymaker found dead at the bottom of a lift shaft in his Turkish hotel fear they may never get ‘all the answers’ to what happened because the police investigation was ‘flawed’, an inquest heard today.
Furniture fitter Tyler Kerry of Pitsea, Essex, was dressed just in his socks and boxer shorts when he was declared dead at the all-inclusive Trendy Lara Hotel in Kundu, near Antalya, early on November 29, 2024.
His grandparents, Ray and Collette Kerry, who brought him up and were on holiday with him, believe he may have been murdered but Turkish authorities ruled there was no sign of third party involvement in his death.
Essex area coroner Michelle Brown today confirmed that Turkish solicitors acting for Tyler’s family had been challenging the ruling to force a new investigation in an attempt to find any evidence of foul play.
Ms Brown told a pre-inquest hearing at Essex Coroner’s Court that the lawyers had appealed the ruling ‘on the grounds of a flawed investigation’.
Danielle Belton, a family friend of Tyler’s grandparents, told the hearing that the issue was now due to be considered by the Constitutional Court of Turkey, the country’s highest judicial body, but a hearing was likely to only be heard in 18 months time.
A full inquest into Tyler’s death was supposed to be held today but was postponed amid claims some legal documents relating to the case had not been provided by the Turkish authorities.
Speaking after the hearing, Ms Belton added outside the court: ‘We recognise that we are never going to get all the answers because we recognise we are dealing with the Turkish system that doesn’t compare with ours.
Furniture fitter Tyler Kerry of Pitsea, Essex, was dressed just in his socks and boxer shorts when he was declared dead at the all-inclusive Trendy Lara Hotel in Kundu, near Antalya, early on November 29, 2024
‘We want to continue trying to get to the bottom of what happened. The Turkish authorities concluded there was no third party involvement but there was missing information which was grounds for appeal.’
It was revealed after Tyler’s death that most of the clothes he had been wearing were found away from his body, next to his mobile phone and his bloodstained vape.
The suspicions of his family were raised further when it emerged that another young guest had been reportedly beaten up by security guards in the basement of the hotel.
Ms Brown revealed today that a Turkish judge had ‘ordered an investigation into how Mr Kerry got access to the lift shaft’.
She said the probe was supposed to consider evidence from Tyler’s mobile phone, CCTV from the hotel and DNA recovered from under his fingernails.
But she added that she had only been told of findings which showed ‘the majority’ of the recovered DNA was from him.
Ms Brown adjourned the hearing for a potential full inquest on March 11, saying she was under a legal obligation to hold it as soon as possible.
Mr and Mrs Kerry, aged 63 and 57 respectively, who were at the hearing with Ms Belton, 40, listened as the circumstances of their grandson’s death were outlined.
The suspicions of his family were raised further when it emerged that another young guest had been reportedly beaten up by security guards in the basement of the hotel
The coroner today said that items owned by Tyler had not been seized by Turkish police, which could have led to them becoming ‘contaminated’ and making them ‘useless’ as potential evidence
Ms Brown said the case was ‘complicated’ by the UK not having ‘reciprocal’ legal arrangements with Turkey
She told how Tyler was found dead with ‘some of his clothing removed’ in the lift shaft after he had left his family watching the hotel’s evening entertainment.
The coroner said that items owned by Tyler had not been seized by police, which could have led to them becoming ‘contaminated’ and making them ‘useless’ as potential evidence.
Tyler’s body was originally returned to the jurisdiction of the East London coroner, despite him having come from Essex, she added.
A post-mortem examination was carried out by a pathologist acting for the East London coroner and it became immediately apparent that one had already been carried out in Turkey, she added.
The pathologist gave the cause of death as multiple injuries and blunt force trauma but was unable to undertake toxicology tests due to Tyler’s body having been embalmed.
Ms Brown said Tyler’s body was later transferred to her jurisdiction and she had decided that there was no point in a new post-mortem examination as there had already been two earlier ones and there would be ‘no value to it’, due to the passage of time and embalming since his death.
But Tyler’s family had their own examination conducted by a pathologist which gave his cause of death as a traumatic head injury and a fall from a height.
Following his death, Tyler’s girlfriend, Molly Underdown, paid tribute on Facebook, saying he was ‘the most caring, loving, funny boy I have ever met’
Tyler’s funeral took place in January last year
Ms Brown said she had also recently received the toxicology results from Turkey, before Tyler’s body was embalmed, showing he had 152mgs of alcohol in 100mls of blood, nearly double the UK’s drink-drive limit of 80mgs.
She added that both UK pathologists had found ‘no indication of any third party involvement in Mr Kerry’s death’.
Ms Brown said Tyler’s family had been represented by lawyer Michael Polak of the campaign group Justice Abroad, who had been given the status of an ‘interested party’ in the inquest.
But she added that he had since stated he was not acting for them at the UK inquest.
Mrs Kerry said after hearing: ‘I am looking forward to the full inquest and getting a conclusion about what actually did happen.’
Following his death, Tyler’s girlfriend, Molly Underdown, paid tribute on Facebook, saying he was ‘the most caring, loving, funny boy I have ever met’.