The legendary jockey Walter Swinburn died as a result of an accident following a fall from his bathroom in Belgravia, a coroner has ruled.

The 55-year-old suffered a fatal head injury after falling approximately 12 feet from his bathroom window on December 12 last year.

An inquest at Westminster Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday (February 9) that although Mr Swinburn had epilepsy, it was not possible to establish whether this had contributed to the fall.

Nicknamed the "Choirboy", Mr Swinburn rode the legendary Shergar to glory in the 1981 Derby at the age of 19, before going on to triumph in the Epsom Classic on a further two occasions on Shahrastani in 1986 and Lammtarra 1995.

Walter Swinburn wins the Derby on Shergar in 1981

A court officer said coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe found Mr Swinburn had died as a result of the accident.

The officer said: “She confirmed that he had fallen from his bathroom window.

"The drop was estimated at about 12 feet, and it was into a courtyard.

“It was confirmed that Mr Swinburn suffered from epilepsy, but whether or not he had an epileptic fit which caused him to fall, was not possible to determine.”

Mr Swinburn retired in 2000 before taking over the training licence from his father-in-law in November 2004 and sending out more than 260 winners from his Hertfordshire base.

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