A "deeply loved" grandfather was found dead in the Menai Strait hours after his car was spotted abandoned on the Britannia Bridge, an inquest heard. Derek Carter, from Bangor in Gwynedd, passed away on December 27, 2021. A major search operation had been launched by North Wales Police after the dad-of-two's car was found abandoned on the Britannia Bridge during the early hours of the morning.
The searches involved the coastguard, RNLI and police officers in and around the bridge area and the Menai Strait. The inquest into the 65-year-old's death heard how at around 3.30pm a member of the public contacted North Wales Police after she discovered the body of a man near the Brynsiencyn shoreline of the Menai Strait.
The emergency services were called and the man, who was later identified as Mr Carter, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene, reports North Wales Live. In a statement written by Mr Carter's wife, Denise, which was read out during the hearing, she said that Mr Carter sustained a severe injury in a motorbike accident, was paraplegic and suffered from tinnitus. She said he would often avoid social events due to his condition.
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Mrs Carter said: "On Saturday, December 25 we had been celebrating at my son's house and Derek was in a great mood. In previous years he had wanted to leave so he could go home to lie down due to the pain in his back and the noises in his ear, however this year he wanted to stay and play games with everyone.
"The following day he dropped me and my daughter off at my son's house before collecting us later that evening. He seemed fine, but at one point my daughter and I started laughing because of how far down the street he had to drive to reverse park in the drive way which made him a bit agitated and argumentative but he was OK and went to bed as normal."
Mrs Carter added that her husband would be "deeply missed and treasured by all who knew and deeply loved him." It was later discovered that Mr Carter had been using his iPad to search for the Menai Bridge tide times.
A postmortem carried out by Dr Mark Atkinson showed no evidence of any water in Mr Carter's lungs and no evidence of drowning and a provisional cause of death was given as "multiple injuries." It also showed that he had been in the water for approximately 12 hours before being discovered.
Concluding that Mr Carter had intended for death to be the consequence of his actions, assistant coroner for North West Wales, Sarah Riley, said: "Having considered all the evidence it is more likely than not that Mr Carter entered the water from a height given injuries sustained and no evidence of drowning.
"The height is not known but it is more likely than not that he jumped from some point along Britannia Bridge. He was pronounced deceased at the water's edge.
"I agree with the pathologist that Mr Carter sustained lethal injuries from entering the sea from a height and died from multiple injuries. I am satisfied that he died as a result of his own actions and did intend death to be the consequence of those actions.
"He had been struggling mentally for a number of years. It is more likely than not that he jumped from the bridge. His death will be recorded as suicide."
