Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Rough sleeper found in the river did not drown
A 27-year-old man found floating face down in the River Stour did not drown, it has emerged.
Roman Mol was pulled from the water by police in Canterbury city centre after his body was seen by council workers.
A post-mortem revealed he had no water in his lungs, a major sign of drowning, but a pathologist could not establish how he had died.
Police probing the death uncovered no evidence of foul play, but an inquest has not ruled out the theory someone else could have been involved.
The hearing on Wednesday was told the Polish rough sleeper’s body was seen in reeds near the Miller’s Field car park early on April 27.
PC Wendy Shrubsole went into the water at about 6.30am with another officer to check for any signs of life and pulled Mr Mol’s body from the river.
She said he was face down in the water and could have floated down stream from the Westgate Gardens because the flow was quite strong.
Pathologist Mat thias Koslowski told the inquest at Canterbury coroners’ court that a post-mortem examination did not reveal a cause of death, adding there was no sign of injury to Mr Mol’s body. He was also free of vital organ disease or damaged.
Toxicology tests showed Mr Mol had 80 milligrams of
‘It could have been a tragic accident and he could have fallen into the river while under the influence of alcohol’
alcohol in 100 millilitres of his blood – the start level for a drink driving conviction, but far from dangerously high.
Questioned further by assistant coroner Christopher Morris, Dr Koslowski said it was possible Mr Mol could have suffered “dry drowning” – when the shock of entering very cold water causes a fatal heart arrhythmia.
Recording an open verdict, Mr Morris said: “This is a very tragic case of a death at a relatively young age. But it is very difficult to say much with any certainty by which means Mr Mol came by his death. There were no obvious signs of ill- ness or disease. It could have been a tragic accident and he could have fallen into the river while under the influence of alcohol.
“It is unlikely there was any third party involvement but not sufficient evidence to exclude that someone could have pushed him in.
“There were so many possibilities, but none meet the standard of proof that one was likely on the balance of probabilities.”
Police community support officer Toby Coburn had told the inquest he knew Mr Mol well from dealings with him in the city centre.
He said: “He was an alcoholic who frequented the city’s parks and had been arrested three or four times for shoplifting.
“He was sleeping rough and had a hazardous and chaotic lifestyle and 90% of the time was extremely drunk after drinking large quantities of cider.
“He could be very aggressive and confrontational but was more carefree and happy go lucky when he hadn’t been drinking.”
Mr Mol was known to the charity Catching Lives, whose manager Terry Gore described his death as “desperately sad”.
He said: “He was a nice lad who had come to England to make a better life for himself. But it didn’t work out. He couldn’t find work and was sleeping rough. He became depressed and started drinking.”