Tributes paid to 'nice, honest and decent' man who died after entering River Severn
Tributes have been paid to a "nice, honest and decent" man who died after jumping in the River Severn in Shrewsbury earlier this year.
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A coroner was told that there was no evidence that Shrewsbury man Robert Neville Frost had intended to kill himself when he went off a footbridge on February 21.
Instead a coroner was told that Mr Frost, who was 57 years old, had acted while his thoughts were "disordered".
He was being treated for schizophrenia, was "the happiest he had been for some time" and had been taking his medication.
There was a massive emergency services response, including the air ambulance, after calls were made by eyewitnesses to the incident at 12.35pm.
Mr Frost was seen swimming with the current in the river but was pulled from the river at the Quarry, by Greyfriars Bridge.
The inquest into his death, held on Thursday, was told that huge efforts were made to save Mr Frost's life but sadly to no avail.
He was pronounced dead at 1.43pm on the day and police concluded that there were no suspicious circumstances or third party involvement.
A post-mortem exam carried out by consultant histopathologist Dr Joanna Williams concluded that drowning was the cause of Mr Frost's death.
Shropshire senior coroner John Ellery was told that Mr Frost's actions on the footbridge were witnessed by grandparents and their children who had travelled in from Oswestry.
They had seen a man, about 5ft 8in tall, jump in the water.
Garry Morris, coroner's officer, read out the grandparents' statement which recorded that they rushed along the riverbank to try to keep him in sight.
"But this was not easy with children," he said.
Mr Frost's sister, Alison Holroyd, said that Wednesday was her brother's "happiest day of the week" and when she saw a report of the incident in the Shropshire Star she did not believe it could have been him.
There was a delay in the emergency services contacting the next of kin and the first they knew about it was on the Friday.
"I learned only from a voicemail that he had passed away," she said.
Mrs Holroyd spoke to her brother two days before and he "sounded his usual self".
She described him as being a "brilliant, normal, intelligent child".
"Wednesdays were his favourite day of the week and I don't believe he intended to take his life.
"He was the happiest and most settled he had been some some time."
Mr Ellery, sitting at the Coroner's Court at Shirehall, said he had to determine whether Mr Frost had intended to kill himself when he jumped from the bridge.
Mr Frost had been carrying a white backpack at the time but there was nothing in it which may have indicated his intent, the coroner said. It contained a wallet with cards and some medication trays.
On the Wednesday morning he had been seen by the vicar of the church he attended, and withdrew £20 from Tesco in Pride Hill. He had also been seen in M&S.
He and a group of friends met up on Wednesdays and he had been reported to be happy and chatty.
But Mrs Holroyd said that her brother heard "spirits in his head" and speculated that they might have persuaded him to act the way he did.
"I do not know, and it's what we will never know," she said. But she said she did not believe he intended to take his life.
"He always took his medication, and he could lead a good life with a good circle of friends."
His funeral had been "well attended" and "everybody loved him", the inquest heard.
She said he had been seen in his medication clinic talking about the spirits and he had a strong belief in God.
He attended Radbrook Church at the community centre on a Sunday and sometimes Meole Brace. He would put out the chairs and banners and made teas and coffees.
The coroner heard that he had never mentioned self harm.
Mr Ellery said: "Nothing tells me that Robert was intending to kill himself. His thoughts were disordered."
And he added that there were aspects of the case, including that he had been to collect medication, and had done things which people with suicidal intent did "not normally do".
But, Mr Ellery said: "Something made him decide to jump in the river."
He recorded that Mr Frost had "jumped in the river while his thoughts were disordered".
Mrs Holroyd's husband Stephen Holroyd spoke out during the inquest "in the hope that others would not have to go through the same trauma of finding out".
"The way we found out added to the trauma.
"The first communication from the coroner was based on an assumption that we already knew.
"What everybody did to try to save him was superb," he said. But the failure of officials to contact them was an issue, although they knew that attempts had been made.
The coroner said he was "sorry" that it added to the distress. But the family did not wish to ask him to purse the issue.
Mr Ellery passed on his condolences to the family.
