Mystery death of soldier found in river with rope around body was accident, inquest finds
Sapper Charlie Saywell, 25, was discovered in the River Medway
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Your support makes all the difference.A soldier who was found dead in a river after an alleged assault and with rope wrapped around his legs and torso died as a result of an accident, an inquest has found.
Sapper Charlie Saywell, 25, was discovered in the River Medway on March 5 at around 10.50am when a member of the public spotted his body in the mud at the Turks Shipyard in Chatham, Kent.
Assistant coroner James Dillon, sitting at an inquest in Maidstone, ruled the death which happened after he got drunk during a night out with friends was an accident.
On Tuesday, the coroner concluded: “He had fallen into the river apparently suffering injuries as he did so. He may have fallen several metres to a pontoon below.
“He had been unable to extricate himself from the river and succumbed to injury and exhaustion.”
The court heard Mr Saywell had drunk a “reasonable amount” of alcohol during his night out and he may have tried to use the rope, which was tied in a “complex” fixture around his body, as a safety aid.
Mr Saywell’s friends, who saw he was unsteady on his feet, had put him in a taxi to take him back to Brompton Barracks.
He arrived safely just after midnight but set off on foot away from the barracks towards Chatham town centre and spoke to his girlfriend at various points on video calls in the early hours.
She described him as being “very drunk”, the court heard.
Mr Saywell sustained some injuries after getting into a stranger’s car outside a pizza shop. The driver tried to get him out of the vehicle but Mr Saywell was reluctant and the driver was seen to kick out towards him and also to possibly throw a punch.
After this, his girlfriend confirmed his eye was swollen, the inquest heard.
Mr Saywell’s next movements were unclear but he ended up at the boatyard where his injured body was later found face down in the mud.
The coroner said: “It seems to me likely that he fell from the wall and fell to the pontoon causing himself further injuries and distress, finding himself in the dark and in the river.”
Being of a military background it seems he used the rope to “fashion some sort of harness” and tried to climb to safety but succumbed “to various issues including the temperature and injuries he sustained in the fall”, the coroner had said.
Detective Sergeant Karen Caulfield told the inquest that in her opinion “this was just a tragic accident”.
She said “the rope tied around his groin and torso looks like how you would use a rope to abseil” and it appeared that he may have tried to use the rope “to get out of the water and as an aid”.
Ms Caulfield said he suffered a broken tooth and facial injuries outside the pizza shop but other injuries appear to have happened later on.
She said no further action was being taken against the suspect who had claimed he had acted in self-defence and had been threatened.
Ms Caulfield said a decision had been made that self-defence was “plausible”.
The detective said: “There is no evidence that any third party was involved and [there were] no suspicious circumstances.
“He died from drowning, falling into the water causing significant injuries to his feet and ribs.”