Murdered British paraglider 'safer in Mongolia than Manchester'

A paraglider who was murdered while travelling across Mongolia had told his wife he would be "safer there than in Manchester", an inquest has heard.

Steve Nash, 53, was stabbed to death in a robbery while crossing the Khangai mountains in 2016.

Warrington Coroner's Court heard his wife raised concerns about the trip before he left but he said Mongolia had the "nicest and kindest people".

The coroner recorded his death as an "unlawful killing".

In 2017, Gantulga Batsukh was found guilty of murdering Mr Nash and sentenced to 16 years in jail.

Mr Nash, from Helsby in Cheshire, went on the 10-day hiking and paragliding trip with his friend Gareth Aston.

The inquest heard he decided to continue solo after Mr Aston was injured but the day after they separated his body was found in a valley by locals in Khuut in the Khandargat Pass.

In a statement, his widow Shirley, 60, said she had asked him if he would be safe on the trip and he replied: "Mongolia has the nicest, friendliest and kindest people.

"I'm probably safer there than in Manchester."

Mr Aston said the night before he separated from Mr Nash they used a satellite phone belonging to a group of nomads to arrange for him to be picked up the following day.

He told the court: "I think he was quite excited about getting on and finishing for both of us."

Mr Aston said he became concerned the next day because Mr Nash's satellite tracking device had not moved far and he was then contacted by police.

The inquest heard a post-mortem showed Mr Nash sustained two stab wounds.

Senior coroner for Cheshire, Alan Moore, said Mr Nash was "dearly loved" and had a "real zest for life and clearly he is very much missed" before recording a conclusion of unlawful killing.

Shane Smith, a lawyer representing his family, said: "Losing a loved one is always tragic, but Steve's family's grief is made all the worse knowing that it was so needless."

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