A UNIVERSITY student who fell to his death from St Paul’s Cathedral’s world-famous Whispering Gallery has been identified as a local teenager.

Worshippers and visitors to the London landmark looked on in horror on Monday afternoon, April 1, as James Jorge Jose De Sousa Stayton from Ross-on-Wye dropped nearly 100 feet to the cathedral floor.

The City of London Coroner opened and adjourned an inquest into the former Monmouth School pupil’s death on Monday (Ap-ril 15), and his family have paid tribute to their “beautiful, talented and intelligent son”, known as JJ.

Almost exactly five years ago, in March, 2014, when Mr De Sousa Stayton was in Year 10, the school held its 400th anniversary service at St Paul’s, close to the headquarters of its City benefactor – the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers – with all 1,200 pupils and staff from both boys’ and girls’ schools attending.

Emergency services rushed to the cathedral on April 1, after being alerted to a man falling from the dome gallery, but couldn’t save the Queen Mary University history student.

A City Police spokeswoman said: “We were called to St Paul’s Cathedral on Monday, April 1, at 3.57pm to a report of a male in his late teens who had fallen from the gallery within the building.

“The helicopter emergency medical service and police officers attended. His death is not being treated as suspicious.”

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson added: “We sent a number of resources to the scene including an incident response officer and London’s Air Ambulance. Sadly, despite the efforts of medics, a person died at the scene.”

Opening the inquest this week, City of London coroner Alison Hewitt said the teenager died from multiple injuries, including a “severe head injury”.

She told the hearing, which was attended by his mother, that inquiries were ongoing and a date for a full hearing would be set later.

Mr De Sousa Stayton’s family said in a statement released through City of London Police: “We are all in deep shock at the loss of our beautiful, talented and intelligent son.

“He had a deep passion for history and revelled in sharing his knowledge with others.

“He truly was a young gentlemen, always willing to help others where he could. With his wicked sense of humour and mischievous smile, he could bring irrepressible joy to anyone in his company.

“Words cannot adequately express the devastation we feel, nor the love we have for him. The world is inarguably a lesser place without JJ.

“Finally, we would like to thank City of London Police along with all our family and friends for their support and compassion.”

Dr Andrew Daniel, Monmouth School for Boys headmaster, said: “It was with enormous sadness that we learnt about the death of James De Sousa Stayton, aged just 19. James joined our prep school in 2006 and was head boy there.

“He left Monmouth School for Boys in summer 2017 after taking A-levels in hstory, biology and drama.

“James was a highly-respected and popular boy, who was part of the successful Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools’ expedition to India in the summer of 2016.”

Dr Daniel added: “The De Sousa Stayton family are very much part of the Monmouth Schools’ community and our heartfelt condolences are with them at this very difficult time. At Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools, we will be doing everything we possibly can to support them.”

James’ funeral is set to take place at 2pm next Wednesday, April 24, at St Mary’s Priory Church in Monmouth.

Millions of visitors have climbed to the Whispering Gallery over the years, but cathedral authorities announced three days after Mr De Sousa Stayton’s death that they would be closing it for the forseeable future to review its safety.

A St Paul’s spokesman said: “The Cathedral is deeply saddened at the death of a man here on Monday, April 1.

“The Whispering Gallery is a safe place to visit with a high safety barrier in place, and many millions of people have visited it over the years.

“Continuing to ensure the safety of all our visitors, whatever the reason they are here, is paramount and we have been reviewing this carefully over the past few days.

“This includes the safety of those on the Cathedral floor. We have therefore today taken the hard decision to temporarily close the Whispering Gallery whilst we assess whether there are any further safety measures that could be put in place.”

The cathedral was closed after emergency services rushed to the scene, and church authorities announced: “We are sorry to announce that we are closing the Cathedral for the rest of the day and Evensong will not take place this evening.”

A police spokesperson confirmed last week: “Officers from the City of London Police have compiled a report for the coroner on the circumstances surrounding Mr De Sousa Stayton’s death, which is being treated as non-suspicious.”

St Paul’s is one of the most famous sights inLondon, with its dome designed by Sir Christopher Wren as part of the Great Fire rebuilding in the late 1600s.

Services held there have included the funerals of Admiral Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Sir Winston Churchill and the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.

At 30m above the floor and 34m across, and reached by 257 steps, the Whispering Gallery runs around the base of the central dome above the main hall, and is so named because a whisper or low murmur against its wall is audible with an ear held to the wall at any other point.