Open verdict over man’s river death
A MAN who died in the River Great Ouse on the night of Bedford’s Christmas lights switch on had suffered from depression an inquest heard this week.
James Johnson, 55, of Dudley Street, Bedford was found in a backwater in the river on the morning of November 30 last year.
His medical cause of death was immersion.
An inquest on Tuesday heard how Mr Johnson, who is originally from Bradford, had suffered in the past with depressive conditions and had been treated at the Weller Wing psychiatric unit at Bedford Hospital.
Coroner David Morris said that in the circumstances in which Mr Johnson was found he would be unable to say that he definitely intended to take his own life and recorded an open verdict.
He said: “On the evening in question there was a lot of activity in the vicinity.”
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Weather for Bedford
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
