RIVER DEATH
Man died days after partner
A man died after being pulled out of the River Medway - just three days after his partner of 27 years took her own life.
An inquest into the death of Greg Newholm was unable to give an explanation of how he ended up in the water, in Maidstone.
Mr Newholm, 52, was pulled out unconscious by police officers who managed to throw a life-ring over his head. He was flown by air ambulance to Kings College Hospital in London, where he died.
His death, on December 1, was just after his girlfriend Arnya Holden had passed away, but
Georgina Gibbs, assistant coroner, said there was no evidence his death had been suicide.
A passing cyclist described seeing Mr Newholm “jump from two feet” from the embankment below Fairmeadow in Maidstone. But once in the water he attempted to swim to shore and cried for help before succumbing to the freezing cold water. It was not possible to tell from CCTV footage whether he jumped deliberately, or stumbled in.
DS Jonathan Stevens said Mr Newholm had spoken to two friends earlier that day and was upset about his partner’s death but gave no indication he intended to take his life. His niece, Jessica Newholm, said in a call to her he had spoken positively about doing up his flat in Roseholme, Maidstone, and inviting his elderly mother to move in.
In a social media post after Miss Holden’s death Mr Newholm said: “We had 27 great years together, but I’ve still got 25 years ahead of me.”
His phone records showed he asked if a friend was going “fishing” and he said he had “slime” to shift. DS Stevens said fishing was a reference to buying cocaine, while slime was a code for heroin.
The inquest heard that Mr Newholm was a drug-user, but the cause of his death was immersion. The coroner gave a narrative conclusion, stating it was not possible to say exactly how or why Mr Newholm had ended up in river.