A dad died of a drugs overdose while on a caravan holiday with two of his children. Richard Seaborne had wandered alone in nearby woods and his body was not found until friends raised the alarm and a search by police and emergency services was carried out.
Mr Seaborne, 46, was said to worship his children and his family who have been left devastated by his death. The dad of four from Newport had disappeared in the early hours of Sunday, June 20, and was last seen in a “good mood”, having had a heavy night of drinking and having consumed cocaine and cannabis.
An inquest in Truro, Cornwall, heard that he was on the final day of a caravan holiday in Newquay at White Acres Holiday Park, Newquay. Friend Ruby Clark raised the alarm in the afternoon, having not seen him for hours. A search by West Cornwall Search and Rescue, as well as police, led to the discovery of Mr Seaborne’s body in nearby woodland on the evening of Monday, June 21.
The inquest heard evidence from pathologist Dr Garbican who identified 879ng/ml of cocaine in Mr Seaborne’s blood. While this is below the lethal range, the inquest heard, it’s likely to have dropped dramatically following his death.
As well as this, the post-mortem examination found a small amount of alcohol and therapeutic amounts of antidepressants in Mr Seaborne’s blood. The post-mortem concluded that the 46-year-old likely died of a sudden heart arrhythmia, caused by excessive amounts of cocaine.
Mr Seaborne’s father submitted evidence to the inquest, though was not present. He said: “I remember he took his two children, his friend Barry and his partner Ruby to the holiday. They went down on Friday and were due back on Sunday for Fathers’ Day. I was made aware on Sunday that he’d gone missing.
“This was totally out of character as he worshipped the children, and I knew something was wrong. At around 7pm on Monday, a local police officer told us that police had found Richard. This has totally devastated our lives and the lives of his four children.”
Mr Seaborne was last seen by Ms Clark, having spent the night drinking a heavy amount of alcohol. Detective Constable Simon Murray, of Newquay CID, stated Mr Seaborne had reportedly consumed 14 beers and four glasses of wine the evening before he vanished.
At around 1.30am he took cocaine and smoked cannabis, Detective Murray said, having spoken to Mr Seaborne’s holiday party at the time. A missing person report was filed at around 1pm on June 20 and Mr Seaborne was originally classed as “low risk”.
Just over an hour later, police were made aware of concerns that Mr Seaborne might not have taken his antidepressants and his missing person case was elevated to high risk. On Monday police found Mr Seaborne, deceased, in a boggy, wooded area. Detective Murray said: “He was face down and his jeans were hung up as if to dry on a tree branch.
“There were a number of beer cans, full and empty, around the area. There was no sign of foul play.”
The inquest also heard evidence from Dr Collings of St Brides medical centre, near Newport, who said his medical records pointed to several occasions between 2018 and 2020 where he sought help for drug addiction. However, Dr Collings confirmed that Mr Seaborne was not suicidal and once remarked that his kids “were too important” for him to take his own life.
Assistant coroner Guy Davies concluded that Mr Seaborne died of a drug-related death. Mr Davies said: “The likely explanation for his death is that having consumed a large quantity of alcohol and drugs, Mr Seaborne went for a walk, and subsequently maybe even went for a swim.
“He continued drinking and the cocaine toxicity caused a sudden death. I wish to express my condolences to his family.”
