A man was found in a canal after going missing on the day before his birthday, an inquest has heard.
Peter Curphey was last seen more than three weeks before his body was pulled from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Wigan. A member of the public found the 44-year-old in a stretch of water near to Horton Street on April 11 of last year.
An inquest at Bolton Coroner’s Court today (Tuesday) heard that Mr Curphey 'drowned whilst under the influence of a mixture of drugs’. Mr Curphey, who had a history of mental health problems and substance abuse, had been discharged from a mental health unit just months earlier.
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Deborah Mercer, Ms Curphey’s mother, told the inquest that her son had excelled at school and was a keen rugby player and swimmer. She described him as ‘charismatic’ and ‘popular’ but said he fell in with the 'wrong crowd' during his teenage years and began to experiment with drugs.
The inquest heard that Mr Curphey, from the Marsh Green area, was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and had previously spent time in a mental health hospital.
Ms Mercer said she visited her son on a daily basis and had 'shouldered the burden' for much of his care for about ten years. She said she began to notice a deterioration in his mental health around February 2021.
Mr Curphey's behaviour started to turn ‘violent and unpredictable’ and she said she believed he was on a ‘downward spiral’.
By that summer, she described Mr Curphey as ‘out of control’ and said he ‘needed sectioning’. Ms Mercer raised concerns about her son's behaviour with Clare House, a mental health service based in Wigan, but said she was told he was ‘fine’.
In December of that year, Mr Curphey was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and was admitted as a voluntary inpatient at Atherleigh Park mental health hospital in Leigh. While at the hospital, the inquest heard he was diagnosed with a mental and behavioural disorder, which is believed to have been caused 'polysubstance misuse'.
After refusing to return from a period of leave the following month, Mr Curphey was discharged from the facility. Ms Mercer said she believed her son was ‘profoundly unwell’ and needed to be placed in a secure unit.
However, she said he was ‘good at masking his condition’ when talking to clinicians.
“He was just out of control,” she added. “Even when he was not taking drugs he was just completely out of his mind.”
In February of last year, Mr Curphey attended A&E where he reported feeling suicidal and asked to be sectioned.
Matthew Seddon, a clinical lead within Wigan’s mental health liaison team, said Mr Curphey revealed he owed money to drug dealers and reported ‘hearing voices telling him to kill himself’. However, Mr Seddon said the decision was taken not to section Mr Curphey as his concerns were deemed to have been linked to the drug debts rather than a deterioration in his mental health.
Mr Curphey was last seen on the evening of March 17 when he and a friend took the anti-psychotic drug zopiclone together, the hearing was told. Detective Chief Inspector John Davies, of Greater Manchester Police, said CCTV from a car garage showed Mr Curphey walking in a ‘zombie-like state’ across the forecourt in the early hours of the following morning.
Shoes, socks and a small amount of blood were later found inside a car at the garage, which the inquest heard suggested Mr Curphey had taken drugs inside the vehicle.
The footage then showed Mr Curphey walking in the direction of the canal, Detective Chief Inspector Davies said. He described the towpath near to where Mr Curphey was found as ‘uneven and poorly lit’.
Family members of Mr Curphey reported him missing to police on March 19 after he failed to appear for his 44th birthday the previous day. A member of the public found Mr Curphey's body lying 'face down' in the canal on the afternoon of April 11.
Detective Chief Inspector Davies said it was likely that Mr Curphey had entered the water some time before that date. He said a police investigation ruled out any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.
Pathologist Dr David Barker told the inquest a post-mortem examination had given Mr Curphey’s cause of death as ‘drowning due to the combined effect of drugs’.
Toxicologist Dr Julie Evans added that that tests had revealed cannabis, cocaine, morphine and zopiclone in Mr Curphey’s system, but all were at a level indicative of recreational use. However, she said the combined effect of the drugs could have caused Mr Curphey to become ‘confused’ and would have impacted his balance and ability to swim.
The inquest continues tomorrow.
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