Fatal bridge fall was not suicide
A‘HIGHLY popular’ young man drowned after falling from the Silver Jubilee Bridge in bad weather, an inquest heard.
Rhys Cafferty, 25, of Blackburne Avenue in Widnes, was last seen alive on Saturday, March 18.
An inquest at Warrington Coroner’s Court heard Mr Cafferty’s body was recovered by police divers from the Manchester Ship Canal off Old Coach Road in Runcorn on March 30.
The hearing on Monday, September 25, included evidence from friend Derek Tasker, who saw Mr Cafferty at The Goldmine pub on Hale Road in Widnes.
Mr Tasker said Mr Cafferty was dancing and ‘having a laugh’ and that he last saw him at around 2.45am. He said Mr Cafferty was ‘fine’ and there was ‘absolutely nothing wrong’ when asked by the coroner.
Witness to the fall Stephen Burke was on his way home from work at the time when he saw Mr Cafferty on the bridge as he travelled over, later turning his car around and calling the police.
Mr Burke told the inquest the weather was ‘horrendous’.
He added that the weather was ‘ blowing a gale’ and saw Mr Cafferty fall but did not see him hit the water from where he was on Waterloo Road.
A statement by PC Philip Leathard – among the officers to attend the scene – read out by the coroner said it was hard to hear Mr Cafferty because of the wind.
Of the fall, the statement said: “It was a shocking moment I will never forget. I heard a splash and instinctively knew Rhys was in the water.”
PC Lee Hillyard told the inquest Mr Cafferty was in a ‘very distressed state’ and told him he ‘did not know him but I care about him’ as he tried to help before the fall.
A statement from Detective Sergeant Leanne McFarlane, of Runcorn CID, said Mr Cafferty’s body was discovered eight metres down on Thursday, March 30, in the Manchester Ship Canal off Old Coach Road.
Emma Dinsmore from Halton Integrated Recov- ery Service said Mr Cafferty attended conselling sessions and ‘engaged well’ between October 2015 and January 2016, adding he was ‘positive and happy’ before discharging voluntarily.
A post mortem revealed alcohol just above the drink drive limit and cocaine levels of a ‘recreational’ use rather than ‘excessive’ in Mr Cafferty’s system, the coroner said.
Mr Cafferty’s father Michael Glynn told the inquest his son was a bricklayer and his apprentice, as well as working in Tesco.
He said he last saw his son at about 4pm on Friday, March 17, as Mr Cafferty went to watch Widnes play Hull and had also booked his Magic Weekend ticket.
Mr Glynn said: “He was out with his mates a lot.
“He was the top goalscorer for the football team.
“His driving test was booked. When the CID turned up, at first I didn’t believe it. He was a good honest lad.”
Senior coroner for Cheshire Alan Moore returned an open conclusion after the inquest heard Mr Cafferty’s cause of death was drowning in a background of alcohol and cocaine consumption.
The coroner ruled out Mr Cafferty taking his own life, but could neither conclude it was an accident and said Mr Cafferty died ‘on or about’ March 18 after falling at 4.49am.
He said: “The weather conditions I heard were terrible. The wind was distorting speech so it wasn’t clear what was being said and what was being heard.”
Mr Moore said there was ‘driving rain’ and that it ‘could have presented a slip hazard’.
Speaking about Mr Cafferty earlier in the day who he described as a ‘highly popular young man’, Mr Moore said: “There was absoultely nothing out of the ordinary in Rhys’s behaviour, nothing to indicate he might have had any worries or concerns. Rhys’s mood, I heard, was positive and he was making plans for the future.”
A skydive by Mr Glynn and friends Kelly Leigh, Keith Constable and Eddie Turk will take place this Saturday to raise funds for a boat named after Mr Cafferty.
To donate visit www. gofundme. com/ rhyscaffs- giving-somethingback ●