Accident ruling on drowning

A verdict of accidental death has been recorded following the inquest on a Portuguese welder who died in the River Severn after a night out in Shrewsbury town centre.Vasco Goncalo Rominhos had consumed more than three times the legal drink-drive alcohol limit when he decided to go sw-imming at Mardol Quay.

An inquest at Shrewsbury Coroner’s Court yesterday was told the 25-year-old’s brother had pleaded with him not to go into the river during a phone call in the early hours of August 26.

The hearing was told Mr Rominhos, of Benyon Street, Castlefields, cut his brother off and his body was discovered in the river later that morning when his abandoned clothing was found on the path at Mardol Quay.

Coroner John Ellery gave the cause of death as drowning.

Constable Sally Haynes, the officer in the case, said Mr Rominhos was a strong swimmer and diver, having grown up on the Portuguese coast. She said he had been with his brother during the day at a barbecue where he had been drinking a large amount of alcohol.

At about 10.30pm he decided to go into Shrewsbury town centre to carry on drinking and was spotted leaving the Yorkshire House pub at approximately 1am.

The police officer said CCTV footage showed him walking alone through the town towards Mardol Quay.

She said a post-mortem showed he had 254 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The drink-drive limit is 80 milligrammes.

A post-mortem also showed Mr Rominhos had a cut to his head which was consistent with having dived into shallow water and hit his head on rocks.

The river was only 0.53m deep at the location where Mr Rominhos’s clothes were found and there was a two-metre drop from the path to the water.

The police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Mr Rominhos’s death.