Mystery of Bolton man found dead in River Irwell

Patrick Martin is believed to have fallen into the River Croal by Trinity Retail Park.

His body was taken down river to the River Irwell in Salford, where it was discovered, an inquest into his death heard yesterday.

The 55-year-old was last seen at his home in Sichester Way, Breightmet, on Monday, August 19 by his brother John, who he lived with.

Mr Martin, who could not swim, had been due to meet his sister, Theresa Martin, but made a phone call at about 9.20am to say he would be late.

He did not turn up and was not seen alive again.

Emergency services received a call on August 21 to say a body was floating in the River Irwell in Salford, which was later identified as Mr Martin.

A post mortem examination revealed Mr Martin, a non-smoker, had high blood pressure, for which he took medication — but there was no sign of a heart attack and no alcohol or any drugs in his system.

The only external injury was a small graze on the top of his forehead.

The inquest heard from Mr Martin’s GP that he had been treated for depression in the 1990s, but not recently, and he was on job seeker’s allowance. His sister said he had never talked about harming himself or taking his life, and on August 17 had talked about looking forward to Christmas.

She added: “There are more questions than answers.

“In the week before his death I saw him near enough every day.

“We walked into town talking about getting him a video game for Christmas.

“He would walk everywhere and often take shortcuts.”

Recording an open verdict, area coroner Alan Walsh said: “There is no evidence that he was in great trouble or hurt himself.

“He was in contact with his sister and niece and they expected to see him that week.

“An accident, sudden, unexpected — that’s possible.

“Taking short cuts on the river banks might have caused him to fall.”

After the inquest, his sister Miss Martin paid tribute to Mr Martin, saying: “He will missed by his entire family. He was a lovely man.”