Man drowned in Navy base moat probably suffered cardiac arrest, inquest told

A man who was found dead in a moat at a Royal Navy training base likely suffered a cardiac event and then drowned, an inquest has heard.

Andrew West, 51, was found lying face down in the Fort Rowner moat at the HMS Sultan Navy training base in Gosport, Hampshire, on June 3 2021.

The inquest into his death concluded in Winchester on Thursday.

Mr West had worked as a networks engineer at the site since 1981. Outside work, his passions were cycling, attending concerts and festivals, theatre, travelling abroad, real ale and photography.

Mr West often took pictures of the moat and its wildlife during his lunch breaks and he had a digital camera with him at the time of his death. Analysis of the camera’s memory card found he had taken five pictures within two hours of being found in the water.

Errol Morris, a contractor at the Navy base, was taking a walk on the path alongside the moat on his lunch break when he saw what he first thought was a plastic bag in the water at around 12.45pm.

On closer inspection Mr Morris realised it was a body and he used a nearby steel pole to bring the body nearer to the bank so he could pull it out of the water. The moat is believed to be around three metres deep.

Mr Morris pulled Mr West’s body halfway out of the water and then carried out chest compressions for 10 minutes. He phoned a colleague who alerted the Royal Navy Police and an ambulance was called but Mr West was not breathing and no pulse was found.

The ambulance service arrived just after 1.30pm and resuscitation was attempted for an hour but Mr West was declared dead at 2.36pm.

Evidence from both the Royal Navy Police and Hampshire Constabulary found there was no third party involvement or suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.

Dr Adnan Al-Badri, who conducted the post-mortem examination, found no signs of defensive or any other injuries on Mr West’s body, and no signs of natural disease aside from a documented history of asthma and Type 2 diabetes.

Water and grit were found in Mr West’s mouth and lungs, suggesting he had inhaled water and drowned. Mr West was able to swim but there was no evidence at the scene to suggest he had tried to get out of the water.

Mr West’s heart was also enlarged, only eight grams lighter than a weight which would indicate a fatal cardiac event.

Therefore Dr Al-Badri concluded: “The cause of death is probable drowning.

“It’s unlikely it was simply drowning, so it’s likely he had a cardiac event which caused him to fall into the water, he was incapacitated by the cardiac event and became unable to swim to the surface and died by drowning.”

Andy Cross, contracts manager at HMS Sultan for the Ministry of Defence infrastructure organisation, said safety measures had been increased “above and beyond” legal requirements since Mr West’s death.

While they had met legal requirements for signage, ladders and life rings previously, all 27 life rings were replaced, signs have been increased, and ladders have been placed every 25 metres instead of the requirement for every 50 metres. Fencing has also been placed at some points of the banks.

Mr Cross said: “We’ve gone over and above what’s required for our water space. Better safe than sorry.”

Commodore John Boyce, who was Commanding Officer at HMS Sultan at the time, also explained that staff training on dealing with incidents on-site rather than at sea was updated, and signs directing people to call 999 rather than staff phone numbers were installed.

Coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kent concluded that the medical cause of death was probable drowning, and Mr West’s death was an accident.

She said: “There must have been something, but I don’t know what it was, that meant when he hit the water he was unconscious, because if he wasn’t unconscious he would have tried to get himself out of the water.

“I had to investigate if there were any mental health issues that may have led Andrew to do this himself, but from the evidence I got from friends, family and colleagues everyone said he was absolutely fine, his usual self.

“The most appropriate conclusion, I think, is accident because I think if he hadn’t fallen into the water he would not have drowned – if it had happened on land he would have had a greater chance of surviving.

“There is no need for a Prevention of Future Deaths report because a huge amount of steps were taken within six months to increase what was already there. There was nothing wrong with what was already there but measures have been increased.”