A man died after trying to swim across the River Ouse in York while being pursued by police, an inquest heard.
Steven Richard O’Neill, 28, fled from police after two officers approached him on King’s Staith.
After being “cut off” by officers, Mr O’Neill walked to the river’s edge. Despite a call from an officer saying “Don’t go in there!” he waded in from a platform on the bank and started to swim towards the opposite bank.
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He swam three-quarters the way across the 45-metre-wide river before disappearing under the water. He did not re-emerge.
His body was recovered from the river by a York Rescue Boat a few hours after the chase in the early hours of April 20, 2019. A pathologist found that he had drowned.
The jury inquest, which began on Monday in Harrogate, heard that Mr O’Neill had traces of cocaine in his system, as well as high levels of alcohol, which may have impaired his attempt to swim across the river and evade police.
Police confrontation
Mr O’Neill had been visiting his brother Phillip Welch, a soldier based in the city, when the tragedy occurred around Easter time.
They went on a pub crawl around York and got chatting to three men near the Slug & Lettuce pub in Low Ousegate.
A CCTV operator informed police of a suspected drug deal taking place involving Mr O’Neill and the group of men.
Mr O’Neill was allegedly seen to hand something to one of the men and two officers were dispatched to the scene at about 1.10am. However, the CCTV footage showed no evidence of an exchange of cash.
When the police constables approached, Mr O’Neill gave one of the men a hug and said: “We’re not doing anything.”
The officers grabbed him, but he broke free and ran up the stone steps towards Ouse Bridge. Following a “scuffle”, he ran back down the steps and fled down King’s Staith.
‘He had a good heart’
Mr O’Neill, from The Wirral, Merseyside, jumped over an 8ft wall and ran along the riverside into Tower Gardens, with the two officers in pursuit.
He then ran under Skeldergate Bridge and past St George’s Fields car park, where other officers were approaching.
It was at this point that Mr O’Neill, sat at the water’s edge, eased himself into the river and began swimming across the Ouse towards Terry Avenue where boats were moored.
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Officers said he seemed to be swimming “comfortably” at first but then slipped under the water. His body was found by the rescue boat at about 3am.
Mr O’Neill’s mother Sharon Scott, who has been critical of how police dealt with the incident, said her son was “the fabric of the whole family”.
“He had a good heart,” she added.
“He was everything to us all. He had everything to live for.”
Made no sense
Ms Scott, a mother-of-nine, said Mr O’Neill, who worked in the construction industry, had been looking forward to his impending marriage and was the “best son” she could have hoped for.
She said her son, an ardent Liverpool FC fan, had been “excited” at visiting his brother for Mr Welch’s birthday.
Mr Welch said he did not know why his brother ran from police.
“I didn’t understand what was happening,” he added.
They had bumped into three men in the street and were talking about football. He then saw a “high-viz (police) vest” and heard a “bit of a commotion”.
“Steven ran off,” said Mr Welch. “That’s the last I saw of him.”
He said his brother “wasn’t the best swimmer” and had once nearly drowned on a previous holiday.
“So, it didn’t make any sense why he entered the water (in York),” he added.
He said his “playful, loveable” brother had had about eight drinks during the night out but that he wasn’t drunk.
River tragedies
A police dispatch officer said they presumed Mr O’Neill would “give himself up because he had nowhere to go” after reinforcements were called in to block his escape.
One of the three men who had been chatting to Mr O’Neill said he was “friendly and chatty” but appeared to “get a bit nervous” when police approached.
PC Rebecca James said as soon as she said, “Hi, fellas”, Mr O’Neill bolted up the steps. She grabbed him and shouted “Stop!”, but he “pushed me off” and she fell down the steps.
She said she was about five metres away from Mr O’Neill when he went into the river.
“He lowered himself, starting with his legs hanging over, dangling down to the river,” she added.
“I said, ‘Don’t go in there’, and at that point he spun himself round… and used his hands to lower himself in.
“At the time he looked very competent. He got just about halfway across the river; he made good progress.
“It was about three-quarters’ way across the river and he started to look like he was struggling. He went under the water and he never came back up.”
She said she had been trained not to enter the tidal river with strong currents because of the inherent dangers.
Mr O’Neill was one of five people to die in York’s rivers in the space of three weeks in the spring of 2019.
The inquest, which is due to last five days, continues.