Girlfriend says death was tragic accident

Wiltshire coroner David Masters recorded an open verdict at an inquest on Friday, saying there was much that remained unexplained surrounding Mr Anderson's death.

He said he was puzzled about how Mr Anderson's body was found further down the canal, near Prison Bridge, when the last sighting of him by his friends was near Town Bridge.

Mr Anderson, a non-swimmer, died in January after a night out drinking with friends in Devizes to celebrate his 18th birthday.

Mr Anderson's girlfriend, Jemma Hawkins, told the Gazette she was still struggling to come to terms with his death but believed there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding it.

Miss Hawkins, 20, said: "I think his death is just a tragic, tragic accident. How it happened none of us will ever know but I don't think there was anything suspicious about it.

"I don't believe anyone pushed him into the canal, nobody disliked him enough to do that."

Miss Hawkins thinks Mr Anderson walked off the towpath on to Northgate Street and walked along to Prison Bridge where he got back on to the towpath.

She thinks the hood of his Puffa jacket may have become detached, as it had done before, and he fell into the canal trying to retrieve it.

Miss Hawkins said she was puzzled by the alcohol level in his blood. The post mortem examination revealed there was twice the legal drink drive limit but she thought it would have been higher based on the evidence given at the inquest that he had been drinking during the afternoon and evening of the night he disappeared.

Miss Hawkins met Mr Anderson, who was training to be a chef, four years ago in a nightclub and they had been living together for ten months in Cornfield Road, Devizes.

Mr Anderson, originally from Liberia, moved to the Devizes area with his family when he was a boy.

A former pupil of Devizes School, he used to enjoy kick boxing and weight training.

Miss Hawkins, an administrator, now lives with her parents in Seend. She said she has treasured memories of Mr Anderson, who was known as Cons, to his friends.

She said: "He was just lovely, gentle, generous. He was just the best and I will never forget his smile."

Mystery continues on man's canal drowning canal

MYSTERY still surrounds the death of 18-year-old Jenkins Anderson whose body was found in the Kennet and Avon Canal in Devizes in January.

An inquest on Friday at Chippenham into Mr Anderson's death failed to determine how he died.

Wiltshire Coroner David Masters recorded an open verdict.

The inquest heard that Mr Anderson, who was known as Cons, had been out drinking on Friday January 25 with a group of friends to celebrate his birthday, which had been a few days earlier on January 20.

He and friends started off drinking in the afternoon at a flat in Mayenne Place, Devizes, and in the evening they visited various pubs, ending up at the Four Seasons in High Street.

Friends of Mr Anderson, who worked in the despatch department at the sandwich makers Uniq on the Hopton Industrial Estate, gave evidence at the inquest. They said on the night of January 25 he began slurring his words but was able to walk without staggering.

When they left the Four Seasons just before midnight they agreed to go back to the flat in Mayenne Place to continue drinking.

Zak Ridley and Ben Davies walked along the road while the rest of the group, including Mr Anderson, walked along the canal towpath.

Mr Anderson was walking with Simon Legg, 17, of Chandlers Lane, All Cannings, at the back of the group along the towpath when he decided he would go back on to the road to find Mr Ridley.

Mr Legg tried to persuade him to stay on the towpath, but Mr Anderson would not. He said he saw Mr Anderson walk back towards the metal steps leading up to the road.

Mr Anderson's 20-year-old girlfriend Jemma Hawkins, who lived with him in Cornfield Road, Devizes, said Mr Anderson did not return home after his evening out and after getting no response from his mobile phone she called the police.

She said it was completely out of character for him not to get in touch.

On Tuesday morning as the police were about to start a search of the area for Mr Anderson, a distraught Miss Hawkins called to say she had seen the hood of his Puffa jacket floating in the canal. A subsequent search of the canal found Mr Anderson's body near Prison Bridge, some distance from where he was last seen on the towpath.

A post mortem examination revealed the cause of death was drowning.

Blood tests showed the level of alcohol in his blood was 164 milligrammes, twice the legal drink drive limit.

Also found in his blood was a low level of cocaine. In his urine there were traces of Ecstasy.

Pathologist Dr Alan Anscombe said there were no external injuries and nothing to indicate that any other person was involved in his death.

He thought the amount of alcohol in Mr Anderson's blood was not enough to have left him staggering about.

Katie Darby, a nurse, was on board her boat which was moored on the canal and heard male voices shortly after midnight.

She said she heard one male voice which was higher than the others and he was shouting 'f off' several times.

WDC Mandy Carver who investigated Mr Anderson's death, said she had found no evidence of suspicious circumstances.

Mr Masters said he was baffled by the fact that Mr Anderson's body was found some distance away from where he was last seen.

The lock gates were locked at the time because the canal was closed to navigation which meant that Mr Anderson's body could not have travelled along the canal.

Mr Masters said he could not explain why the hood of Mr Anderson's jacket had become detached. There was no evidence that it had been torn off.

He also thinks the voices heard by Miss Darby on board her boat were Mr Anderson's friends on their way to Mayenne Place. The location where she heard them was a lock above where Mr Anderson's body was found.

Mr Masters said: "There is no evidence of any struggle or him being pushed into the canal. I have difficulty understanding how he came to be in the lock where he was found because there is so much unexplained."