Inquest into Rob Davies’ death returns open verdict
An inquest into the death of University of York student Robert Davies has delivered an open verdict.
The body of the third year Chemistry student was found in the River Ouse, approximately one mile from Bishopthorpe, by a member of the public on October 1 2007.
Davies who was from Bury, near Manchester, went missing on Saturday, September 22 2007 after a night out with friends. He was last seen alone by door staff outside Ziggy’s nightclub on Micklegate at 12.36am, where he was refused entry on grounds that he was heavily intoxicated. A friend and housemate who was with Davies contacted his parents the next day after he had not returned home. It was then that the police were called and an investigation was carried out.
The coroner reached an open verdict as there was no first hand account of what happened after Davies left his friends and how he came to be in the water is unknown.
The inquest, which was held at the York Register Office, heard statements from a number of witnesses. Pathologist Mark Egan, from the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne, carried out a post mortem and concluded that Davies had high levels of alcohol in his blood which in his opinion contributed to death by drowning.
It was thought that Davies had ingested substantial amounts of water from which the body could not recover.
The body was found fully clothed with no visible old or fresh injuries, thus assault was discounted.
Davies’ parents were present at the inquest and said that “Rob’s death left a big hole in our lives.” Davies’ father Tony went on to thank the North Yorkshire police officers and the University of York for all the help and support they had received.
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