Australian diplomat dies after falling from New York balcony

[webfact]

Australian diplomat dies after falling from New York balcony

By Gina Cherelus

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Australian diplomat accidentally fell five floors to his death on Wednesday from the deck of his New York City home during a social gathering with his wife and friends, police and local media said.

 

Julian Simpson, 30, plummeted from a seventh-floor balcony to a second-floor landing shortly after 1 a.m. (0600 GMT) at the 19-story apartment building in the Lower East Side neighbourhood of Manhattan, New York Police Department spokesman Martin Brown said.

 

"He's described as somebody who liked to play games and had sat on the balcony railing and accidentally lost his balance," Brown said.

 

Simpson, a junior diplomat with the Australian Mission to the United Nations, was said to have been playing a "trust game" with an unidentified male house guest, according to the New York Post, citing unidentified police sources.

 

Simpson instructed the man to catch him as he sat on the railing of the balcony and leaned back to prove that he could trust him, the local newspaper reported.

 

But Brown said media reports of a trust game, where a person deliberately falls back and relies on another to catch them, have not been confirmed. The police spokesman added that a toxicology report would determine whether Simpson was under the influence of alcohol at the time of his death.

 

The diplomat was taken to Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital where he was pronounced dead, the Post reported.

 

Simpson and his wife were out with friends before returning back to his residence to view the Empire State Building, which illuminated rainbow colours in celebration of Australia's same-sex marriage vote, The Post reported.

 

A representative for the Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

The investigation is ongoing, police said.

 

(Reporting by Gina Cherelus; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York; editing by Diane Craft)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-11-16

[canuckamuck]

I guess he doesn't trust that guy any more.

[greatwhitenorth]

Australia's new gay marriage laws have claimed it's first victim.  How many more will die because of the madness?

[Briggsy]

Sounds like typical Aussie braggadocio gone wrong. Russian roulette trust games??

[BuaBS]

20 minutes ago, webfact said:

Simpson, a junior diplomat with the Australian Mission to the United Nations, was said to have been playing a "trust game" with an unidentified male house guest, according to the New York Post, citing unidentified police sources.

 

Simpson instructed the man to catch him as he sat on the railing of the balcony and leaned back to prove that he could trust him, the local newspaper reported.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

It doesn't only happen in Pattaya.

[FreddieRoyle]

I was expecting to see 95% of the posts calling for an immediate ban on balconys. Good to see that deep down people accept that bad stuff happens, and lashing out in an emotional tizzy calling for banning (insert method death was achieved) is just silly politcs. RIP to the Australian deceased.

[kotsak]

35 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

It doesn't only happen in Pattaya.

Agreed but usually there are no witnesses in Pattaya :>

[KittenKong]

I always suspected that diplomats can be every bit as stupid as politicians, and it looks like I was right. One more dead idiot.

[Aussieroaming]

37 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

I always suspected that diplomats can be every bit as stupid as politicians, and it looks like I was right. One more dead idiot.

or his mate could have been a polititian. Never play trust games with a Pollie

[baboon]

1 hour ago, KittenKong said:

I always suspected that diplomats can be every bit as stupid as politicians, and it looks like I was right. One more dead idiot.

Idiot? I bet the Aussies are calling him a legend... 

[baboon]

1 minute ago, car720 said:

No.  An Aussie legend would have landed on his feet and called down for another beer.

No, an Aussie legend would have landed on his head and called down for another beer...

[overherebc]

5 minutes ago, car720 said:

No.  An Aussie legend would have landed on his feet and called down for another beer.

More importantly he wouldn't have lost a drop of the one he was holding during the fall.

[Scott]

Please stay on topic and be civil.   A person has died.  

[masuk]

3 hours ago, greatwhitenorth said:

Australia's new gay marriage laws have claimed it's first victim.  How many more will die because of the madness?

What a stupid comment!

[UnkleMoooose]

Shouldn't an Australian have returned back to the balcony after throwing himself off?

[saminoz]

4 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

It doesn't only happen in Pattaya.

How many would play such a game with a Pattaya bar girl?

Hansum man, truss me!

[SGD]

3 hours ago, Scott said:

Please stay on topic and be civil.   A person has died.  

Darwin would be proud of this guy for permanently removing himself from the human gene pool.

 

Honourable mention in 2018 Darwin Awards.