City’s river safety in the spotlight after two men’s accidental deaths

CONCERNS HAVE once again been raised about river safety in York following inquests into the deaths of two men.

Teenager Sonny Ferry, 19, died in April 2019 after a night out in York, and Joseph Rainham, 35, died after last being seen near the Ouse in October of the same year.

Both men’s bodies were recovered from the city’s rivers.

Mr Ferry had been on his first visit to York for a job as a labourer, an inquest in the city heard yesterday, and had gone into the city centre with colleagues Luke

Lockwood and Ben Alder on April 12.

The group went to Kuda nightclub, and Mr Ferry was seen in CCTV footage outside after being removed from the club.

Alarm bells were sounded by his colleagues when he did not turn up for work the next day, and his body was recovered from the Foss, near Blue Bridge Lane, on April 14.

The inquest heard that Rana Alzahany, who lives near Blue Bridge, heard a splash and a voice crying out for help at around 4.30am the morning Mr Ferry was last seen.

She called 999, and police and fire rescue services searched the area for an hour. They then resumed the search the next day.

It was later discovered that Mr Ferry’s debit card had been used after his death. Police arrested a 45-year-old on suspicion of theft of the wallet, who was later released without charge.

An internal police investigation found no evidence of police wrong-doing, but Mr Ferry’s mother Kate, from Ketton, Rutland, said the family had not ruled out a third party being involved in their son’s death and believed it had not been investigated adequately.

But assistant coroner Jonathan Leach recorded a verdict of accidental death after hearing from police that there was no evidence to suggest foul play.

Mrs Ferry, 49, said: “I do understand how difficult it is for police officers to get it right. I’m not convinced that there wasn’t a third party involved.

“I don’t want to believe it was anything other than an accident but I had a duty to look into it.”

A separate inquest into the death of Joseph Rainham, also recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Mr Rainham, who lived in York, had been drinking at a friend’s house on Lincoln Street, a twominute walk from the Ouse.

He left the house in the early hours of October 5 2019, but didn’t get into a taxi that had been booked for him.

Mr Rainham was reported missing on October 11, and his body was found by a passer-by near Lendal Bridge, in York City Centre, on October 26. A postmortem showed that it was likely he had entered the river around the time he was last seen.

Assistant Coroner Mr Leach said toxicology reports showed Mr Rainham was three times over the drink-drive limit and that he may have entered the river in a disorientated state but added: “Sadly, we will never know.”

Speaking after the inquests, David Wilson, incident manager at York Rescue Boat, said he was concerned river accidents will rise. He said: “We’ve had restrictions for a year, and we’re going to see an influx of people coming to York because of the nice weather, and that’s a concern.

“The majority of jobs we go to are mental health related, and there’s a concern that the stress and pressure of this year will be weighing on people.”

We’re going to see an influx of people and that’s a concern. David Wilson, incident manager at York Rescue Boat.