The Asos co-founder’s family may never know why he fell from a 17th-floor balcony. Thailanda coroner said today.
Quentin Griffiths, 58 – known as Q – died after jumping from Elysium Residences in Pattaya’s Nong Prue sub-district on February 9.
Mr Griffiths made his fortune as one of the co-founders of As Seen On Screen, a fashion website that offered affordable versions of outfits worn by celebrities in films and on TV. The brand name was later shortened to the iconic name Asos.
Dorset coroner Rachael Griffin told a pre-inquest today that she had so far only received a translated police report, which gave ‘very brief circumstances’ of Mr Griffiths’ death and a translated post-mortem report.
Although the ‘rumor mill’ had suggested there may have been something sinister about his death, Ms Griffin said the only evidence she had given was that he had been alone in his flat before he fell.
Mr Griffiths’ brother Adrian and family representative Nina Fox attended the coroner’s hearing in Bournemouth.
The coroner said at the hearing: ‘I am limited in this investigation because the evidence suggests he was the only person in the flat at the time of the events which very regrettably took his life.
“Very sadly, we know that he fell from a height that led to his death, whether that fall was intentional or accidental.
“Right now, based on the evidence I have, there are a lot of questions waiting to be answered and that may not change.”
Quentin Griffiths (pictured) co-founded Asos in 2000, but later left the company and moved abroad
He died after falling from the 17th floor of the Elysium Residences in the Nong Prue sub-district of Pattaya, Thailand (photo)
Ms Griffin said she had asked the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for further information from Thai authorities.
She said: ‘One of the challenges we face is that the level of investigation depends on where the death occurs.
“What we’re trying to determine is whether there is anything else we have access to in this police investigation.”
She added to Mr Griffiths’ family: ‘I have to be very careful about the reliability of evidence and I have to get evidence from a reliable source rather than from the rumor mill.
‘I am happy to explore any other lines of inquiry that you as a family consider relevant, but at this time my only source of contact is as a family and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
‘I’m not sure I’ll get any more information than I have now, but I’m also willing to continue asking the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and wait for their response and give them more time.
‘Chances are that I cannot regret seeking further evidence.
“I understand the challenges we face and the anger and sadness you are causing as a family because there will still be much left unanswered.”
Mr Griffiths sold much of his stake in Asos in 2010 and remained a major shareholder for many years. He later moved to Thailand.
Police in Pattaya are convinced Mr Griffiths committed suicide. His apartment was locked from the inside, there were no signs of a struggle and no one was seen entering or leaving his apartment.
Mr Griffiths was married to Thai national Ploy Kringsinthanakun for 16 years, but they later separated (pictured with Griffiths and their two children)
Mrs Kringsinthanakun has denied any role in her husband’s death. Police say there is no evidence of foul play and note that no one entered or left the apartment
Detectives said he had been drinking daily leading up to his death, while friends said he was behaving erratically.
However, earlier this year the Mail revealed that the manager had heard an angry argument on the phone just before he fell.
Mr Griffiths also faced an 18-month prison sentence for fraud and forgery after trying to fire his ex-wife, 43-year-old Thai national Ploy Kringsinthanakun, as director of the company they ran together. He was out on bail at the time of his death.
The couple was together for 16 years and separated for five years, she said, after having two children together.
Thai media reported that a meeting between Mr Griffiths and his ex-wife’s lawyers was scheduled two days after the day he died, which may have determined whether he would serve his prison sentence.
Mrs Kringsinthanakun used a press conference in February to deny any involvement in her ex-husband’s death.
She later told The Sun: ‘I had absolutely nothing to do with his death. How could I kill him? How would I know about it? I live in Bangkok, I wasn’t in Pattaya.’
There is also much mystery surrounding the fate of almost £3 million worth of cryptocurrency that reportedly disappeared from Mr Griffiths’ digital wallet in the days after he fell.
Ms Griffin adjourned the inquest for a further hearing to take place in March next year to give the FCDO and Mr Griffiths’ family more time to obtain more information about his death.
The coroner expressed her ‘sincere and heartfelt condolences’ to family members who attended the hearing via video link, adding: ‘I understand his death came as a complete shock.’
