Coroner submits 20 years worth of river tragedy evidence for major safety review
A coroner has submitted evidence of river deaths dating back nearly 20 years to a safety review.
John Ellery, senior coroner for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, has shared findings with Shropshire Council as the authority considers measures that should be taken to prevent more tragedies occurring.
He was speaking at the inquest of Shrewsbury man Toby Jones, 31, who died in April after getting into difficulty in the river on a night out in the town centre. Mr Ellery said he will now submit the findings from Toby's death to the council, and will do the same following the inquest of Nathan Fleetwood, 21, who also died in the River Severn after being missing for a number of weeks.
"I have been in recent contact with Shropshire Council considering the review that is underway regarding river safety," said Mr Ellery. "I have provided considerable information to the council on deaths since 2003. Some of those deaths are not similar to Toby's. They could have been for other reasons.
"I shall now provide the council with the information regarding Toby, so this can feed into the review and be considered when action is taken."
He added: "It's a balance between people's right to enjoy the river and preventing people from drowning. It's not for me to say what should be done. Nothing will bring Toby back, but if something could come of it, that might make things easier."
Toby's mum, Shane Game, is hopeful that the review will result in lifesaving measures being brought in so that her son's loss wasn't in vain. She said: "If something comes of it, maybe that was his purpose. That's what I'm telling myself at least."
A countywide review was ordered after the deaths of Toby and Nathan, as well as a number of river rescues in quick succession. Father-of-one Dan Walker was heroically rescued, and another man was saved thanks to a member of the Shrewsbury Canoe Hire team, while a casualty was rescued from the river in the Castlefields area. All those incidents happened in the space of a few weeks.
Councillors want to ensure that all existing safety measures and equipment are in good order, to improve CCTV coverage and lighting in areas of risk and consider where more barriers may be necessary.
