Former nurse drowned in ditch at wassail event

AFORMER nurse drowned in a drainage ditch behind a marquee while celebrating her birthday at a traditional drinking event, an inquest heard.

Elaine Williams, 54, was found to be almost three times the legal drink-drive limit when she died in the rhyne at the wassail.

She had been drinking at a local traditional Somerset event and had gone missing for an hour after going for a cigarette, the hearing was told.

Elaine was then discovered face down in a ditch at a cider farm near Highbridge, and declared dead by an ambulance crew.

The inquest at Taunton Coroner’s Court heard that Elaine was “very intoxicated” and had fallen asleep in a chair in the marquee earlier on the evening of January 18.

Toxicology tests revealed 229mg of alcohol in her blood, with the limit for driving set at 80mg.

Pathologist Dr Russell Delaney told the hearing that Elaine died from drowning, and said the effect of that amount of alcohol meant she was unable to get out of the ditch.

The inquest also heard from Elaine’s sister Helena Ibbetson, who said the pair had been to the wassail to celebrate their birthdays.

She said Elaine, from Bridgwater, went along a dark, unlit path for a cigarette, and that there was no fencing around the ditch where she was later found.

Helena Ibbetson added that her sibling trained at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, where she “loved nursing and the social side”.

She said she later married but when that broke down alcohol became an issue, although Elaine was “always kind and caring” and remained “positive and strong”.

Senior coroner Tony Williams recorded a conclusion of accidental death on Thursday.

Wassailing is an ancient custom that involves drinking and singing to the health of fruit trees, usually in an apple orchard.

This is done in the hope that they will provide a bountiful harvest.