A “cheerful” and “outgoing” teenager died after accidentally falling from a bridge while walking home from a night out, an inquest has ruled.
Warrington Coroner’s Court heard Ryan Swales, 18, was heading home to Widnes from Chambers bar in Runcorn with his friend Leah Holloran in the early hours of Sunday, August 15. On the Queensway flyover they became separated for a short time and it is believed Ryan must have slipped while walking along the ledge on the outside of the railings.
Shopworker Ryan was taken to Aintree University Hospital by ambulance but died from his injuries a short time later. A post-mortem examination found Ryan died from a “severe head injury” that was “consistent with Ryan having fallen from a height”.
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Toxicology tests by Kirsty Watson found “modest quantities” of alcohol and cocaine in Ryan’s system, in addition to “small amounts” of paracetamol and ketamine - the latter of which could have been from treatment in hospital. The amount of alcohol was about one-and-a-half times the drink drive limit.
A statement from Ryan’s father Richard Swales said his son didn’t have any medical issues and had been in his usual “good spirits” when they last spoke on August 13, planning a trip to Ireland together with Ryan’s nan. Ryan had recently been promoted and was waiting on a new car.
His family said he had a happy personality as well as being “outgoing and always willing to help anyone”. A witness statement from Callum Dow said that he left the same bar at 5am and encountered Leah.
She seemed “shocked or panicked” because there “had been an accident by the bridge” and “something had happened with Ryan”, so they headed to the scene together. Callum ran and found Ryan, who was still alive but not talking. Leah was crying and called an ambulance.
Shortly before the incident, two friends walking back from Widnes to Runcorn had briefly encountered Ryan and Leah who were having a “normal conversation” and heading towards the Silver Jubilee Bridge and Widnes. Ryan appeared “happy”, although he “wasn’t walking straight and looked intoxicated”.
About 20 seconds later they heard a “bang” or a “thud” but thought nothing of it as “you sometimes hear loud bangs in the old town”. Another woman later saw a social media post about the incident, which triggered a “flashback” of having seen a man fitting Ryan’s description “leaning over” or “slouched” over the side of the bridge while she was walking home with her husband and friends.
Resident Adam Watson said in a statement he was woken in the early hours by his mum who said she could hear a “couple arguing on the flyover”, and when he went to listen he could hear male and female voices and the male “shouting at the female to hurry up”. He sad she was “walking behind him” but she caught up and he “held her hand and they walked off towards the bridge”.
Leah Holloran gave evidence in person and said she and Ryan had met in Wetherspoon and she wasn’t sure if they went anywhere else before ending up at Chambers. Ryan was his “normal self”, meaning “cheerful” and in “good spirits” with no expression or sign of any intent to harm himself.
They left Chambers shortly before 5am near closing time and set off to head home as they lived near each other in Widnes, expecting a 15-minute journey, and were initially walking together but then with Ryan about 10 metres ahead. Asked about the incident, she said: “I remember him being ahead and (inaudible).
“I don’t remember shouting get down or anything. I just seen him one minute and then…” Asked if Ryan climbed over anything, she said: “There was quite a high railing.”
Mr Westerman asked if the fall resulted from a jump or a slip, she said: “I couldn’t see, I’d imagine it was a slip.”. When she saw him below the drop, she went to get help and called an ambulance.
Summarising the police investigation conclusions, Detective Sergeant Newman told the hearing: “There’s no evidence of third party involvement, foul play or suspicious circumstances.”
Mr Westerman returned a conclusion that Ryan Gerald Swales, 18, who was born in Whiston and lived in Widnes, died at Aintree University Hospital on Sunday, August 15, due to “unsurvivable head injuries he suffered when he fell from a bridge onto Station Road”.
He said there was “no evidence of any intention to self-harm”. He recorded the cause of death as “accidental”.
Mr Westerman said: “I’m satisfied that Ryan was living the life and doing extremely well and there’s no evidence whatsoever that he complained, thought about or entertained ending his own life - there’s no evidence of any intent to self-harm - and the incident on the bridge was an accident. In doing that I accept the evidence and the police evidence given to me and of Leah that there was nobody else involved in that incident on the bridge, and sadly he passed away as a result of falling from the bridge when it was never intended that he fell from it.”
Tributes to Ryan issued at the time remembered him as an “amazing” young man with a “lovely” nature as well as “kind, caring and full of life”.
