A British traveller and eager skateboarder shot useless alongside two associates in Mexico was “within the unsuitable place on the unsuitable time”, his inquest has heard.
Ben Marshall Corser, 36, from St Simply in Cornwall, was killed whereas sitting behind a automobile exterior a grocery store in Colima, in western Mexico.
Cornwall coroner’s court docket heard Corser was taken to hospital unconscious however pronounced useless on arrival.
His father, Andrew Corser, instructed the listening to in Truro that his son was wholesome and had been having fun with a “very pleased and sociable time” whereas travelling in 2022. He stated Ben and the 2 associates he had been dwelling with had gone to the grocery store to purchase meals after they have been killed.
Corser instructed the court docket: “We now have had no clarification or motive given, no suggestion of theft, kidnapping or the rest. Police haven’t handed to us any data other than the reason for loss of life.
“Apparently there was a dramatic upsurge of violence in Colima. It’s most certainly this was a query of Ben, Claudio and Alfredo being tragically within the unsuitable place on the unsuitable time.”
A police report learn to the inquest referred to the witness assertion of an area lady who heard gunshots and threw herself to the bottom earlier than seeing a van with the driving force’s door open. CCTV cameras have been unable to establish the van and the licence plates weren’t seen, the inquest was instructed.
A postmortem discovered Corser, who had top notch levels in maths and positive artwork, had been fatally shot in his chest.
Emma Hillson, assistant coroner for Cornwall, concluded that Corser had been unlawfully killed.
She stated: “Ben had been travelling in Mexico since January 2022. He had lived in several elements of Mexico, turning into a part of the neighborhood. He was dwelling with an American-Mexican household, with two different younger males, Claudio and Alfredo, in Colima.
“They have been skate boarders and Ben joined them in skateboarding. On the night of 24 Might 2022, Ben and Claudio returned to the world on a bus and Alfredo picked them up within the automobile.
“They travelled alongside the primary boulevard and stopped at a grocery store. Whereas the three have been within the automobile, exterior the grocery store, all three of them, together with Ben who was sat within the again seat, have been shot useless.”
The coroner added: “Three years have now handed since this loss of life. I’m happy it’s unlikely that additional data will probably be forthcoming.”