DROWNING TRAGEDY
NI WOMAN ‘MAY HAVE HAD TOO MUCH TO DRINK’ PRIOR TO FALL
A NORTHERN Ireland housewife who died after falling in the water during a boating holiday on the River Thames may have had too much to drink, an inquest has heard.
Lesley McGrath (48) and her husband Kevin regularly travelled from their home in Templepatrick, Co Antrim, for long summer vacations on a houseboat moored in an exclusive marina in the shadow of Windsor Castle.
However, their break this summer came to an abrupt end when Mrs McGrath walked back to the boat from a bar alone, having previously asked her husband to “see her home”.
She was described as “wobbly” as she left and regulars commented that she had to be drunk because she had left a half full glass of wine on the bar.
The inquest heard she fell in the river as she made her way to the holiday houseboat and drowned.
Wearing a distinctive black Adele T-shirt, she was believed to have toppled into the Thames as she tried to clamber aboard the houseboat while three times the drink drive limit.
Shortly after midnight the same evening, a barman spotted the back of Mrs McGrath’s Adele tour T-shirt in the water and shone a flashlight on her, only to find her floating face-down.
By the time he and a friend had called paramedics and hauled her onto the side of the marina on Maidenhead Road in Windsor, Berkshire, her skin was blue and a doctor described her as “deeply unresponsive”.
Despite desperate efforts to save her life, Mrs McGrath was pronounced dead in the early hours of July 11 this year.
Police constable Paul Meredith, who attended the scene shortly after an ambulance arrived, said in a statement read out at the inquest: “I took a statement from Mr McGrath, who had been looking in what I can only describe as complete shock as the doctor continued to try to save his wife’s life.”
Giving evidence, Mr McGrath, of Rickamore Brae in Templepatrick, said his wife had fallen into the marina once last year, but she had been able to get back out easily because the water was only four or five feet deep.
On the evening of her death, he said Mrs McGrath had been drinking wine while watching Wimbledon, then had a further glass and a half after meeting friends at Gogo’s waterfront restaurant and bar in Windsor.
He added: “She did comment that she had been drinking wine while watching the women’s tennis game. Wimbledon was on.
“At about 10.30pm, Lesley asked if I would go back to the boat with her, and I said, ‘I will walk you back as soon as I’ve finished this drink.’ About 10 minutes later, she said she didn’t want to wait any longer so she went on her own.
“I would not say she was fine, but she did not seem to be recklessly drunk. She left a glass of wine in the bar and I had commented that was unusual.
“I have got a rough idea where she fell into the water, but I don’t know where she was found. She should have been able to stand up — there was a ladder right next to where the boat is.”
A post-mortem examination conducted the next day found that Mrs McGrath had 248mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in her system — more than three times the legal limit for driving.
The inquest heard she had also taken a therapeutic amount of Tramadol, and the combination would have further impaired her ability to get out of the water once she had fallen in.
In a statement, Gogo’s bartender George Furney said: “When Mrs McGrath left the bar, she left a glass of wine on the table, which we joked about, saying she must have been drunk to leave the wine.”
He said that when he was told the woman had disappeared, he went out with her friend David Ackroyd to look in a more quiet part of the marina.
Mr Furney added: “I noticed a shadow around 6ft out on the water. I saw what I believe was Lesley floating face-down in the water. I recognised the Adele top with the tour dates on the back.
“We went over to Lesley to try to pull her onto the boat, but we
❝ When I grabbed her in the water, she didn’t move, when I pulled her to land, she didn’t make a sound
could not manage it. We managed to get her onto land and the paramedic began working on her.
“When I grabbed her in the water, she didn’t move at all. When I pulled her onto land, she did not make a sound.”
Concluding the inquest in Reading, assistant Berkshire coroner Alison McCormick said: “Some of the evidence that I have read suggests that Mrs McGrath was drunk and may have been wobbling at the time.
“On the balance of probability, Mrs McGrath fell into the marina as she was on her way back to the boat. I will accept the medical cause of death given by the pathologist, which is drowning.
“The conclusion is going to be one of misadventure.”