Shropshire man's drowning in river ruled a tragic accident

Anthony Lawrence, from Ty Maen, Oswestry, drowned despite the efforts of his father, Dave Lawrence, to save him, the inquest at Shrewsbury's Guildhall was told yesterday.

The pair had gone to cool off in the River Dee near St Martins on July 16 .

The former Marches School pupil was a non-swimmer and his father told the inquest he was surprised that he had gone in the water with him but he was happy to see Anthony, who was not particularly sporty, get in.

He said they had been "having a laugh" in the water just minutes before the tragedy, which happened at the confluence of the rivers Dee and Ceiriog.

Mr Lawrence said he had gone to the water, known locally as The Forge, many times when he was younger and never had any problems there.

He said they went later in the day they could have the place to themselves and the only other person there was Anthony's girlfriend of two years, Faye Merley, who had accompanied them to the river but had not gone swimming.

Mr Lawrence, said the first sign of trouble was when he lost his footing on a ledge and the pair went under the water for a short time. Although they were a "bit shaken" they carried on swimming.

They got into further trouble as they moved to deeper water and went under the water. Despite his best efforts, Mr Lawrence, a 44-year-old window cleaner, was unable to save his son from drowning.

The hearing was told police, firefighters and paramedics arrived at the scene after the alarm was raised that Anthony had gone missing in the water.

Police sergeant Richard Coles said he and other officers from Oswestry attended the scene just after 7pm. They were met by Anthony's girlfriend who directed them to where he had gone in the river.

He said Anthony was spotted in the river and firefighters got him out. Firefighters and ambulance staff tried to resuscitate Anthony, who was then airlifted to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

Coroner John Ellery said the cause of death had been immersion or in other words drowning. He told Mr Lawrence and his wife Denise: "This was a tragic accident."

He returned a verdict of accidental death.