A teenager's attempt to retrieve a bucket which had drifted out into water during a fishing trip with his father sparked off a tragic chain of events which saw them both drown in a Co Donegal lough.
Jonathon Christian was aged 53 and his son Jacob Christian was 17 when they both perished at Lough Keel near Kilmacrennan on June 18, 2020.
The pair had been enjoying a day out along with another son, Benjamin, 15, when both got into difficulty and lost their lives in the water.
The father and two sons had travelled to Ireland from the Isle of Man where they lived as they also owned a property in nearby Ballyheerin in Kilmacrennan. Details leading up to the tragedy had been given at a previous inquest.
However, the inquest was adjourned after Jonathon's wife Eileen expressed concerns over aspects of his mental health and capacity to look after his sons. The initial inquest at Letterkenny Courthouse heard a deposition from Benjamin Christen.
He told how their bait box had fallen into the water and Jacob tried to swim after it but a ripple pushed the bucket out further. Jonathon had initially called to his son to come back.
Benjamin added "Jacob tried, but he couldn't swim back in." After initially trying to throw a life ring to Jacob, Benjamin and Jonathon both jumped into the water to try and bring Jacob to safety.
"I started to go down and dad helped me back onto the rocks. I looked back out and both were gone," added Benjamin.
Declan Foley, who looks after the pump house at Lough Keel, told the inquest how he saw Benjamin sitting on the rocks with his head down, wearing no top, shoes or socks.
Mr Foley said the boy was crying and asked him for help. He told Mr Foley: "I couldn't save them. I couldn't save them. They went under."
Detective Garda John Madigan, a scenes of crime investigator, said the water just beyond the rocks was around six-feet deep. Beyond this point, the depth would be much greater, the inquest heard.
Roisin McBride, the officer in charge at Mulroy Coast Guard, said she received a call at 2.56pm from the Marine Rescue sub centre at Malin Head requesting assistance after two people were reported to have entered the water.
Ms McBride arrived at 3.16pm and a boat was launched at 3.26pm. Four teams of two combed the shoreline to assist in the search, while the 118 rescue helicopter arrived soon after.
At 3.59pm, the body of Jonathon Christian was brought ashore, while the body of Jacob Christian was located at 6.38pm. Pathologist Dr Gerry O'Dowd performed post mortems at Letterkenny University Hospital and concluded that death was due to drowning.
Toxicology tests showed both father and son tested negative for the presence of alcohol and drugs. Reopening the inquest, Coroner for Donegal, Dr. Denis McCauley told how Mr Christen had been filming the trip on his phone and unknowingly captured some of the final moments before he placed the phone on rocks.
The phone showed some harrowing footage but also provided the inquest with vital evidence of what had actually happened. He said it ultimately showed what had transpired at the lough and that both father and son died as a result of an accident.
Addressing Mrs Christan's concerns over her husband's mental health, Dr McCauley went through a number of issues. The inquest was told that Mr Christian's family was concerned over his mental state and he was admitted involuntary under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act on May 8, 2020. He was under inpatient care until June 2, 2020.
After being released from this care he was prescribed olanzapine, but none of the medication showed up in toxicology tests which were carried out on his body.
Mrs Christen was concerned that there may have been restrictions imposed regarding travel and interacting with his children. However, the inquest heard that no formal restrictions were in place after his release from the hospital.
Garda Ciaran Langan also told the inquest that he carried out a welfare check on June 10, 2020 when he called to the family's Donegal property.
Gardai spoke to all individuals at the house over a period of around 15 minutes and found ‘no issues’. He recalled the tragic day of June 18, 2020 when Gardai received a report of a father and son entering the water at Lough Keel.
Garda Langan told how Benjamin Christian informed him that his father and brother entered the water and ‘went under the surface’.
Footage on the mobile phone of Jonathon Christian showed the white basin being washed out and captures Jacob Christian entering the water. The footage stops when Jonathon Christian places the phone down.
Dr McCauley said the video footage was ‘unpleasant to watch but helpful’. The hand movements reaching for the bucket forced it to go out further.
The inquest heard that a discussion had taken place between the parties about whether or not to go after the bucket. Sergeant Fergus McGrory said that ‘leave it, leave it’ could be heard on the video footage. Dr McCauley said the water was very still, but also very cold on the day in question.
Dr McCauley said that the medical history of Jonathon Christian was sought and a report was obtained from Dr Marina Hudson, a consultant at a psychiatric hospital on the Isle of Man.
Leading up to May 2020, Jonathon Christian appeared to have a history of relapsing psychosis and he responded well when he was on medication, but he tended to stop taking his medication and would become agitated and disturbed.
Ms Eileen Christian was concerned over her husband’s state and he was admitted involuntary under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act on May 8, 2020. He was under inpatient care until June 2, 2020.
During that time, he had two periods of release under supervision which was said to have ‘went well’. The Crisis and Home Management team followed up and were happy with his progress. Mr Christian informed them of his intention to leave the Isle of Man and they weren’t concerned.
While Mr Christian assured a consultant, who followed up with a call after he came to Ireland, that he was taking his medication, Dr McCauley said it appeared that that was not the case. Dr McCauley said the statutory agencies ‘engaged appropriately’ before he left the Isle of Man
Ms Eileen Christian told Gardai how she visited the morgue at Letterkenny University Hospital to identify the bodies of her husband and son where she was met by porter Sean McDaid.
“I just wanted Jacob to open his eyes,” Ms Christian said. Ms Christian told the inquest how Jacob was a strong swimmer, but her husband was not a swimmer.
Dr McCauley said the mental state of Jonathon Christian on June 18, 2020 is unknown. He said this was only of importance if a decision made on the day was ‘out of character or something that a normal person wouldn’t do’.
“The decision to go fishing on the lake with his two sons was normal. A father and two sons went to go fishing and a small incident escalated into a terrible tragedy. The presence of the video is incredibly sad and upsetting, but it does give a view of what happened.”
The medical finding in the case of Jonathon Christian and Jacob Christian was drowning. Dr McCauley said the absence of a video would give rise to a concern about the circumstances surrounding the incident.
“Regardless of his mental state, this was an accident,” he said. Dr McCauley said he was comfortable in bringing in a finding of accidental death in both cases.
