'Wonderful dad' found dead in pond after night relaxing in garden

A 'wonderful dad' was found dead in a pond in his back garden, an inquest heard.

A coroner found that Colin Parr accidentally drowned in the koi carp pond at his home on Whickham Close in Widnes in Cheshire. The inquest heard how his wife Sharon found him lifeless submerged in the water with his foot tangled in a mesh web covering, the Liverpool Echo reports.

Scratch marks showed where he had struggled to pull himself out. The night before his body was found on Saturday, January 29, the 60-year-old had been 'pottering' about and relaxing in his garden as he usually would.

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At the Warrington inquest, Heath Westerman, assistant coroner for Cheshire, read evidence from Dr Cheng Li, pathologist, who conducted a post-mortem examination with reference to toxicology test findings from Donna Cameron, toxicologist. Dr Li found the primary cause of death to be drowning, with 'excessive consumption of alcohol' and left ventricular hypertrophy - a type of heart problem - as contributing secondary factors.

A statement from Colin’s wife Sharon said he was an electrical engineer who usually worked away on an oil rig, working two weeks on and two weeks off. She said Colin had completed helicopter survival training as part of the role and underwent regular health checks. Sharon last saw him on January 28 at 4pm and received a message two hours later from him to say he was ordering their daughter a takeaway 'on his card as a treat'.

He said he was 'pottering around the garden, as he enjoyed doing this in his spare time' and he was going to spend the evening in the garden 'relaxing with a glass of wine'. Colin had expressed