A man died after accidentally falling into the canal in Sowerby Bridge, a coroner has concluded.
Dale Mawson, 48, who was born in Halifax and lived in Sowerby Bridge, was described as being in an ‘intoxicated’ state, having taken a number of drugs including methadone and cocaine, on the evening before his body was found in the canal near Wharf Street, Sowerby Bridge in June last year.
An inquest in Bradford heard from his mum Joyce, who was present in court and who said her son had two daughters. She said Dale’s partner had died 11 years ago, and said Dale had died on his eldest daughter’s birthday.
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Joyce described Dale’s early life and said he was a ‘polite’ teenager who had enjoyed holidays with his grandparents. She said both his grandparents had died within a short period of time when Dale was 15 and 16.
When Dale was 15 he had started getting into trouble and smoking cannabis. He later began taking heroin after being introduced to the drug by an older friend’s girlfriend, according to his family.
Joyce described Dale’s lifestyle and said her son was an ‘accident waiting to happen’. She said he had ended up the canal a year before his death but on that occasion someone had pulled him out.
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A pathologist concluded that the cause of Dale’s death was ‘cold water immersion’ along with intoxication from morphine, methadone and cocaine. The pathologist said it was possible that Dale had drowned but said the most appropriate conclusion was ‘cold water immersion’.
West Yorkshire Police investigated the circumstances surrounding Dale’s death, and his final hours, and concluded that there was nobody else involved.
A witness had described seeing Dale ‘heavily intoxicated’ at around midnight and he was seen to be ‘staggering around’, the inquest heard. The level of intoxication might explain why Dale had ended up in the water, the inquest was told.
Assistant coroner Ian Pears concluded that Dale had died as a result of an accident
Mr Pears expressed his condolences to Dale’s family and said: “No doubt there are some good times that you can remember with him.”
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