'A lot of questions waiting to be answered' over death of Asos co-founder Quentin Griffiths in fall from 17th-floor Thai apartment, inquest told

The family of the co-founder of Asos may never know why he fell to his death from a 17th floor balcony in Thailand, a coroner said today.Quentin Griffiths, 58 – known as Q – died after plunging from Elysium Residences in the Nong Prue subdistrict of Pattaya 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 moniker Asos.Dorset Coroner Rachael Griffin told a pre-inquest review today that so far she had only received a translated police report, which provided 'very brief circumstances' of Mr Griffiths' death and a translated post-mortem report. While the 'rumour mill' had suggested there may be something sinister to his death, Ms Griffin said the only evidence she had indicated he had been alone in his flat before he fell. Mr Griffiths' brother Adrian and family representative Nina Fox were in attendance at the coroner's court in Bournemouth.The coroner told the hearing: 'I am limited in this investigation because the evidence suggests that he was the only person in the flat at the time of the events that very sadly took his life.'Very sadly we know he fell from a height that led to his death, whether that fall was a deliberate fall or an accidental fall.'At this moment in time, on the basis of the evidence I have, there are a lot of questions waiting to be answered and that might not change.' Quentin Griffiths (pictured) co-founded Asos in 2000 but later quit the company and moved abroad He died after falling from the 17th floor of the Elysium Residences in the Nong Prue subdistrict of Pattaya, Thailand (pictured)Ms Griffin said that she had requested the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to seek any further information from the Thai authorities.She said: 'One of the challenges we face is the level of investigation depends on where the death occurs.'What we are trying to establish is whether there is anything else we can access to this police investigation.'She added to Mr Griffiths' family: 'I have to be very careful about the reliability of evidence and I have to take evidence from a reliable source rather than the rumour mill.'I'm happy to look into any other lines of enquiry you as a family think is relevant but at the moment my only source of contact is you as a family and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.'I'm not sure I'm going to get any information more than I have now, but I am also prepared to continue asking the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and await their response and give more time.'The likelihood is I'm not going to be able to seek any further evidence with regret. 'I understand the challenges we face and the upset and distress that causes you as a family that there's still going to be a lot of things unanswered.'Mr Griffiths sold much of his holding in Asos in 2010, and remained a major shareholder for many years. He later moved to Thailand.Police in Pattaya are satisfied Mr Griffiths took his own life. His apartment had been locked from the inside, there were no signs of a struggle, and nobody had been seen entering or leaving his flat. Mr Griffiths was married to Thai national Ploy Kringsinthanakun for 16 years but they later separated (pictured with Griffiths and their two children) Ms Kringsinthanakun has denied any role in her husband's death. Police say there is no evidence of any foul play, noting that nobody was seen entering or leaving the flatDetectives said he had been drinking daily in the run-up to his death, while friends said he had been behaving erratically. However, earlier this year the Mail revealed that the business leader had been overheard arguing angrily on the phone moments before he fell.Mr Griffiths had also been facing 18 months imprisonment for fraud and forgery after attempting to remove his ex-wife, 43-year-old Thai national Ploy Kringsinthanakun, as a director in the firm they ran together. He had been on bail at the time he died.The pair had been together for 16 years and separated for five, she has said, having had two children together. Thai media reported that a meeting between Mr Griffiths and his ex-wife's solicitors had been scheduled for two days after the day he died, which may have determined whether he would serve his prison sentence. Ms 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 anything about it? I live in Bangkok - I wasn’t in Pattaya.' Mystery also abounds as to the fate of almost £3million in cryptocurrency that allegedly disappeared from Mr Griffiths' digital wallet in the days after he fell. Ms Griffin adjourned the inquest for a further hearing to be held in March next year to provide more time for the FCDO and Mr Griffiths’ family to seek further information about his death.The coroner expressed her 'sincerest and heartfelt condolences' to family members who attended the hearing on a video-link, and added: 'I understand his death came as a complete shock.'