The family of a man who drowned in the River Mersey after taking drugs fear he may have been mugged before his death.
Colin John Williams, 43, was found dead in the water at Pickerings Pasture in Widnes by a couple walking on the morning of Wednesday, November 14.
At an inquest in Warrington, a coroner ruled out suicide and concluded on the balance of probability that his death was accidental.
A police investigation concluded that there was no third-party involvement in Colin’s death.
The inquest today heard that Colin was fully clothed and wearing jewellery and also a cross-body bag that was unzipped and empty.
His pocket contained a crematorium order of service.
Paramedics declared him deceased at 11.58am.
Police later uncovered CCTV showing Colin, of Wilkinson Close, Widnes , wearing a brown rucksack and walking towards the beauty spot at 12.10am on November 14, the night of his death.
Two months after his death, the rucksack was found in a secluded area not far from where he was found and alongside a near-empty 1.5-litre bottle of white rum.
A post-mortem examination by Dr Catherine Manson established drowning as cause of death.
Despite the rum bottle, forensic toxicologist Donna Cameron’s tests only found a small amount of alcohol in his urine – well below the drink driving limit - that might have been naturally produced by the body after death.
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His system also contained the anti-depressant sertraline and a "significant" amount of the drug GHB, which can cause euphoria, sedation, drowsiness, respiratory depression and unconsciousness.
Marks on his face and bruises on his knees were consistent with being washed against shore rocks, the inquest heard.
His former partner and housemate Philip Karen told the hearing he saw Colin the night before when Colin appeared to have taken GHB, as he had been "slurring", "falling down asleep" and "waking up and rummaging for things that weren’t there".
Once Colin was snoring and in bed, Mr Karen left him to "sleep it off" and went out at around 9pm and Colin was gone when he returned home at about 11.45pm.
He said Colin had not taken the drug for 12 months after he asked him not to take it while living with him and his mother.
Mr Karen said GHB’s effects on Colin could be "extreme" and previously Colin had flooded a bathroom after falling unconscious and has been found by the police once when they thought he had suffered a seizure.
He said Colin has been depressed and missed his late father and nan.
Mr Karen and his mother Jennifer – who said Colin would "do anything for anyone" – were left "in shock" when they received the tragic news the next day.
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Friends made statements to the inquest saying Colin was a "really nice guy and everybody’s friend" but had confided to one person that he had "either tried suicide or thought about it".
He had also lost his phone and was looking for it on November 13 but had seemed "upbeat" and "happy" about having Christmas off work.
Detective Sergeant Alison White, of Widnes CID , told the inquest "there was no evidence to indicate or support third party involvement or that Colin’s death was in any way suspicious."
She said Colin "clearly was a really nice guy and well loved" but "clearly there was some drug use that night".
Replying to coroner Heath Westerman, she said it was not known how he entered the water but that while influenced by drugs – particularly an "extreme" level of GHB and potentially some alcohol – he may have "fallen asleep".
She said it was not possible to determine if the water had "claimed him" while he slept, or if he had entered the water further upstream and been carried on the tide.
Colin’s step-father John Hourihane questioned whether the death was "not suspicious", telling the inquest that Colin’s bank card went missing and his bank account had been "emptied", with the card being used abroad and closer to home.
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He asked "don’t you find it strange his account’s been used since he’s died?"
DS White said Colin had also lost his phone a couple of days before –implying he could have lost his wallet also, – but remarked that regarding the card "we will never know".
She said she did not know when it was taken, adding: “We’ve done our best to speak to everyone we believe has something to tell us.
“Every line of enquiry has been pursued.
“I’m really sorry we don’t have every answer, the bank card is being looked at.”
Mr Hourihane said Colin had his keys and must have had his wallet, concluding "he could have also been mugged that night".
He added that Colin had a fear of water, and with a click of his fingers said "it was classed as not suspicious like that (click) straight away", adding that "I feel like more could have been done".
DS White replied that the "investigation has gone above and beyond" what would normally be expected of a sudden death probe.
A police constable also entered a statement saying Colin had been found on drugs in the mud on the Mersey’s banks in West Bank in 2014.
Mr Westerman said: “The evidence I’ve heard about from DS White is that Colin was seen on CCTV walking towards the river at 12.03am on November 14 and that he was on his own and that he was carrying or wearing a rucksack with him.
“That rucksack was found on an embankment by the River Mersey and Colin was found in the River Mersey floating downstream from where that rucksack was found.
“He was found fully clothed.
“He was wearing jewellery.
“The rucksack contained items belonging to Colin and was accompanied by a 1.5-litre bottle of white rum."
“The police in their investigation of all of that in their evidence were satisfied that there were no suspicious circumstances around that and that there was no third-party involvement in Colin’s death.
“There were no injuries to suspect foul play.
“And whilst I have heard evidence that Colin’s wallet and bank card went missing and was used after death, there’s no evidence as to when or where that wallet and bank card actually went missing.
“There was a evidence from toxicology sample that Colin was affected by a significant amount of the illegal drug GHB and that he had a blood concentration level... that the effects of that on an individual as I’ve read, it could have effects of drowsiness, dizziness, visual disturbances, euphoria and possibly respiratory depression and unconsciousness.
“It could also be fatal if taken at doses of this magnitude.”
