Matthew went on holiday with a group of friends including two older adults who were the parents of two members of the group on the 20^th of July 2008. In the early hour of the 21^st he died on the pavement outside the Cocktails and Dreams nightclub in Laganas on the island of Zakynthos in Greece.

Initially we were told that Matthew had collapsed outside a bar and despite an ambulance being called he had died and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Rumours of excessive drinking as a cause of his death were speculated upon and a Greek post mortem gave his cause of death as pulmonary oedema. A British post mortem by a home office forensic pathologist, examination of his brain by a world renouned neurological pathologist and an investigation by the Derbyshire police proved both the rumours and this cause of death untrue.

It emerged that Matthew died from head injuies that couldn't have been caused by a simple fall and had to be the result of several separate injuries, widespread bruising was also apparent at post mortem. It is clear that his death was not through natural causes. Derbyshire police have and are treating his death as in suspicious circumstances. An evidence file has been sent to SOCA (formerly Interpol) and they are liaising with the Greek authorities, we hope that a full and comprehensive investigation is carried out in Greece, with those responsible being brought to trial.

Several witnesses were called to give evidence at Matthews UK inquest in May 2009, including several eye witnesses who were also on holiday in the same resort. These witnesses were prompted to come forward after seeing reports of his death in the UK national press and an appeal by the Derbyshire police. It become clear through the testimony of the witnesses that Matthew had been assulted by the door staff of Cocktails and Dreams in Laganas and that the injuries inflicted in this assult, caused him to die. The UK coroner Dr Robert Hunter gave a vercict of Unlawful killing

We now know that medical provision on Zakynthos is poor, Matthew had a long wait until an ambulance arrived and we are obviously distressed and concerned regarding this, though it is impossible to say if prompt medical attention would have saved his life.

Thousands of British people travel to Zakynthos on holiday every year bringing with them huge financial reward for the Island. We feel there should be systems in place to insure their safety. Door staff and those serving Alcohol are licensed and monitored within the UK and health care is regulated, with standards of service in place, as a member of the European Union we thought that would be the case in Greece, we were wrong. We believe this should change not only for the benefit of visiting tourists but also for the local people

This has been a horrendous experience for all our family and we continue to struggle to cope without Matthew, we know that getting justice for him will not bring him back to us or even lessen the grief we all feel. We hope that you will feel able to support us and publicise the tragic and needless death of a wonderful young man.