Man died accidental death after jumping from bridge in Llangollen

Andrew Francis Tinsley, from Llangollen, died aged 46 on Friday, July 10 following an incident in the River Dee that evening.

An inquest, held at County Hall, Ruthin on Monday (November 9), concluded that his death was “entirely accidental”.

The inquest heard that on July 10, Mr Tinsley had been to Liverpool with his partner of roughly 17 years, Kathryn Aspinall, to visit family.

Mr Tinsley, who had mental health and alcohol misuse issues, was drunk by the time he and his partner left to return to Llangollen.

She said he had an argument with a relative while in Liverpool, and said he was “looking forward to jumping off the bridge and into the river” once back in Llangollen.

“Andrew often jumped off the bridge into the river when he wanted to clear his mind,” Ms Aspinall said.

On this occasion, she told him he should not as he had been drinking alcohol, but he told her “not to worry,” and that he was “as fit as a fiddle”.

Andrew Tinsley (Image: Submitted)

But at about 8pm, Mr Tinsley “jumped out” of Ms Aspinall’s car while she was driving it, before jumping into the river.

Emergency services were called after witnesses noticed him become submerged in the water, and he was pronounced dead at 10.40pm at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

Mr Tinsley went into cardiac arrest twice on the day of his death, the inquest heard.

Ellena Moore, a witness, said she saw Mr Tinsley “bobbing up and down” in the water initially, but added that he did not appear in distressed.

But Ms Moore contacted police after noticing Mr Tinsley had become “fully submerged”.

She was later approached by Ms Aspinall, who told her: “He does this quite often.”

Likewise, Ms Aspinall told a police constable at the scene that Mr Tinsley “loved swimming in the river,” was a “good swimmer,” and wanted to jump in to the river to “cool off”.

A friend also told the constable, PC Samuel Wood, that this was “not out of character” for Mr Tinsley, and that they did not consider him to be suicidal.

Kate Robertson, assistant coroner for North Wales (East and Central), recorded a medical cause of death of drowning, and a conclusion of accidental death.

She acknowledged that Mr Tinsley had jumped into the river from the bridge “many, many times before,” and said she considered his death to be entirely unintended and unexpected”.

Ms Robertson added: “It was entirely accidental on his part that his death occurred in the manner that it did.”

Paying tribute to her late partner, Ms Aspinall added: “Andrew was full of life and fun. He was like a big kid who never grew up.

“I feel broken without him. He will be very sadly missed by us all.”