06/10/10….Friends too drugged to help drowning friend

FRIENDS of a drowning Wheatley man high on Ketamine, were too drugged themselves to help their dying friend, an inquest heard.

Graffiti artist Dan Lewis, of Templars Close, Wheatley, aged 29, who also used the name Halfcut Art, had snorted the drug on Wednesday, June 2, before stripping off his clothes and jumping into the river at the bathing spot behind West Oxford Community Centre, known as Tumbling Bay.

Dan’s friends, Alan ?Ted? Bedborough, Max Wilk and Eleanor Cooke were all with him and all gave evidence to the Coroner. They either thought he was joking or were too “mashed” to realise what was happening.

Toxicology tests carried out on Dan’s body revealed traces of alcohol and 2.3 milligrams of ketamine per litre of blood.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, the Coroner, Nicholas Gardiner said the drug could have caused partial paralysis, affecting Dan’s ability to swim.

He said: ?After taking this dose of ketamine, if you place yourself in a watery setting, that is a very dangerous thing to do. He shouted for help, no help was forthcoming.?

He was told that Oxford City Council did not provide lifebelts at Tumbling Bay because it was not on a riverside footpath.

Dan was a founder-member of the anual Arcane Festival whose website currently includes a tribute to him.

PHOTO: Courtesy of The Oxford Times