A British backpacker died on holiday after accidentally standing on an electric cable on Christmas Day, an inquest heard.

Jason Lee, 26, was travelling with his girlfriend in Guatemala when he walked onto the roof terrace of his Airbnb to look for friends arriving for dinner.

His girlfriend described hearing an ‘almighty bang’ and seeing his body fall past the window to the ground.

lake Atitlan and town of Panajachel seen from neighboring mountain
Jason was backpacking around Guatemala (Picture: Getty)

Legal advisor Jason, from Bristol, is believed to have stepped on a live, high voltage cable before falling two or three storeys to the street below.

An inquest at Avon Coroners Court heard that Jason had been staying with his girlfriend, Hazel May-Blacker, and one of her friends, in the city of Sololá.

Hazel, 25, had booked a double room for her and Jason, and a single room for her friend.

‘She was shown the premises by someone who appeared to be expecting them,’ Assistant Coroner Dr Peter Harrowing read to the inquest.


‘She had never stayed there before, but her first impressions gave her no concerns about the safety of their environment.’

Backpacker died at Air bnb stepping on live electric wire Flax Bourton Coroners Court Picture: Google Maps
The inquest was heard at Flax Bourton Coroners’ Court (Picture: Google Maps)

Hazel said the couple had made plans for some friends to join them for a Christmas meal.

She asked Jason to keep an eye out for these friends, who would be arriving on foot, the coroner read.

‘Jason went up to the roof to get a better view, and within minutes Hazel heard an almighty bang,’ the inquest heard.

‘She saw through the window Jason’s body fall to the ground. She screamed and ran out to the street, but it was clear that Jason was already dead.’

Tributes to Jason

Speaking after the inquest, Jason’s girlfriend Hazel has paid tribute to her boyfriend, calling him ‘the kindest, sweetest man I have ever met.’

‘I had never fallen in love or had a serious boyfriend before I met Jason, he has had such a important role in my life,’ she said. 

‘He made anyone who was around him feel good about themselves and was never with out a big happy smile on his face.’

Jason’s father Jacky Lee added his own words of tribute to his ‘happy, determined’ son.

He said: ‘Jason never gave us any problems. He had a wide-eyed smile and a laugh that we’ll never be able to forget.

‘Jason was connected to many different groups of people including his school friends, university buddies, and mates that he played sports with.

‘He had a warm, gentle, caring heart. He never had anything bad to say about anyone or anything.’

Police said his body was found on a public road outside a shop, with his details obtained from his passport, the coroner said.


Jason’s body was transported to the National Hospital of Solola, and an autopsy found that the possible cause of death was that he had touched a high-voltage cable, which caused him to fall.

Once Jason’s body was flown back to the UK, a postmortem was carried out by consultant pathologist Katherine Juranka.

She found ‘large areas’ of irregular vitiligo, or pale white patches, across the left side of Jason’s chest and across his left flank, onto his groin, and blisters on his toe and finger.

The pathologist wrote in her report: ‘Distribution of these lesions is highly consistent with skin injuries observed as high-voltage electrocution, and the passage of electrical current across the body.’

Concluding the inquest, Assistant Coroner Dr Peter Harrowing said: ‘I am satisfied that it is more likely than not that the medical cause of death was one of high voltage electrocution.’

Dr Harrowing recorded Jason’s death as an accidental death.

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