Man drowned after getting tangled on stolen car

A MAN drowned after becoming entangled on a car that had been stolen and driven into the River Shannon, gardaí told an inquest in the man’s death yesterday.

Christopher ‘Kippy’ Leo, 44, from Cliona Park, Moyross, had gone for a swim at Brown’s Quay, Limerick, when he got caught on the car, Limerick Coroner’s Court heard.

‘It is in an area known for joyriding. The car may have been driven in or pushed in,’ Garda Alan Dowling, Mayorstone Park garda station, told the inquest.

Eric Woodland from Dalglish Park, Moyross, told the hearing he and Mr Leo, who were friends, had gone for a walk on June 30, 2018, and stopped for a rest near the riverbank.

‘It was a roasting hot day. Ann Halvey and her two daughters were paddling in the river and Christopher said to me he was going to “show off” for the kids,’ Mr Woodland told gardaí. ‘He went in and went down... suddenly. He was under about a minute and a half, I got worried, I asked Ann to ring the rescue crowd.’

Mr Woodland said Mr Leo ‘had one or two drinks, but he wasn’t drunk’.

Limerick City and County Fire and Rescue Service were dispatched to the scene and quickly located Mr Leo’s body underwater.

Ms Halvey from Cosgrave Park, Moyross, stated in a deposition, read out by Garda Inspector Dermot O’Connor of Henry Street Garda Station, that Mr Leo was initially ‘popping up and down’ in the water.

She said she thought he was ‘only messing’ when he didn’t resurface.

She rang emergency services and efforts to resuscitate Mr Leo failed.

John Leo told the inquest he identified his brother’s body later at University Hospital Limerick.

Dr Gabor Laskai, a pathologist at UHL, said death was caused by ‘asphyxiation due to drowning’.

He noted the post mortem found a ‘concurrent use of alcohol, antidepressant; anti-epileptic; anti-histamines medications’ which combined together would have resulted in ‘an increased risk of accident’ as well as a possible ‘loss of coordination’.

Recording a verdict of ‘misadventure’, Dr McNamara noted combined low levels of alcohol and medicines may have affected Mr Leo’s ‘coordination and ability to react’.