Man drowned while canoeing on canal

Man was intoxicated and celebrating new job

A 47-YEAR-OLD man from Uxbridge drowned while canoeing on the Grand Union Canal in a drunken celebration of getting a new job, an inquest ruled.

Daryl Rowe was found dead in the canal near The Malt Shovel pub, in Iver Lane, on March 26 by a member of the public.

At the inquest, held at West London Coroner’s Court, in Fulham, on Thursday July 14, coroner Jeremy Chipperfield ruled Mr Rowe died from drowning.

In a statement read out at the court, the member of the public recalled the moment she spotted Mr Rowe floating in the canal.

She said: “On March 26, I left my home, which is a boat moored near The Malt Shovel, at about 6.20am.

“I noticed next to the canal there was a body. I thought it was a mannequin, but then I realised it wasn’t.”

The member of the public said they informed their partner and alerted the emergency services.

Mr Chipperfield said that Mr Rowe, who lived on a houseboat on the canal, may have been celebrating after recently getting a new job.

The coroner added: “It seems to me the evidence is fairly clear.

“He just got a job and was pretty pleased about that. I expect he was celebrating.

“I’m going to record a conclusion of accidental death. The medical cause of death was drowning.

“At around the early hours of the March 26 2016, he was canoeing whilst intoxicated when he fell into the Grand Union Canal.”

The same court found earlier this week that a sales executive died at a friend’s house in Hounslow after taking drugs and alcohol.