A partygoer waved and shouted to people as he climbed a 50ft pole – before losing his grip and falling to his death.
Witnesses described watching 31-year-old David Cockerton coil his legs and arms around an 18inch pole as high as three storeys from the ground up.
He called out to passers-by, drawing attention to himself, then let go of the pole with his arms holding on with his legs, an inquest was told.
But tragically he lost his grip and fell backwards, hitting the ground below.
The former doorman, who also volunteered at a homeless shelter in Hastings, suffered massive head injuries and died shortly afterwards.
An inquest at Horsham was told there was no suggestion that Mr Cockerton, of Barnmead, Haywards Heath, was suicidal – merely that he had participated in high jinks that got out of hand.
He was not drunk, having consumed only half the legal drink-drive limit.
A statement read out at the inquest by coroner’s officer Geoff Charnock explained he had been enjoying an evening out at the Crown’s Nest in the Atrium – a centre in East Grinstead – on the night of the tragedy.
After the incident, on October 8 last year, Sussex Police launched an investigation and made a number of recommendations which were not referred to in detail at the inquest.
A verdict of accidental death was recorded.
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