THE parents of an Oxford University student who plunged 200ft to his death from a crane while celebrating his birthday spoke today of the huge gap in their lives following the loss of their 21-year-old son.

Stephen and Gitte Dawson, of Freshford, Bath, denied their son Kai, a keen rock climber, had climbed the crane in Rectory Road, east Oxford, as a dare.

They said he was alone and scaled it "because it was there".

Kai, a final year metallurgy and material science student at St Edmund Hall, fell to his death from the crane's jib on Friday night having spent the evening in a pub with friends.

Mr and Mrs Dawson said in a statement: "We are sure Kai was alone when he came past the crane that evening. Dutch courage provided the impulse to take the challenge.

"It was windy that night, and there may have been a sudden gust which would have made him lose his balance and fall to his death.

"It was foolhardy, but part of his character was that he enjoyed taking calculated risks."

Story date: Wednesday 16 February

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