Pair who went out for walk die in double tragedy

Ceri Jenkins was the carer for Aaron Ritchie, who had autism and epilepsy, when they both died in Wigan

An experienced care home support worker and a man with autism and epilepsy drowned together in a freezing canal in a double tragedy. An inquest jury is examining the circumstances surrounding the deaths in November 2023 of Ceri John Jenkins, 60, and Aaron Ritchie, 49.

Mr Ritchie, who the jury heard had a mental age of 10 or less, was a long-term resident of Mayfield House care home in Wigan. Oxford University-educated Mr Jenkins was his care worker on the day.

The pair were walking together on a towpath of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in the Abram area of Wigan, near Crankwood Road. It was said to be one of Mr Ritchie's favourite walks.

The jury at Bolton Coroner's Court heard of a 15 minute 'window' between when they were last seen and when witnesses saw them in the water. Timothy Brennand, the coroner, said there was an 'absence of direct evidence' and it wasn't known who entered the water first.

But Mr Jenkins' widow, Lorraine Jenkins, was asked what she thought he would have done if Mr Ritchie had fallen in the water. She said in a statement referenced by the coroner: "It would be completely Aaron on his mind. He knew that Aaron could not speak or swim.

"His focus would have been on him, and not on himself."

The jury was told Mr Jenkins had previously saved the life of a a student who had fallen into a canal when he worked at a high school in Wigan.

Mrs Jenkins said in the statement: "He was excellent at caring for people. Ceri was always giving and caring for other people. He always took the time for others. He was the best and most loving husband I could have."

Mr Jenkins had been a support worker at Mayfield House since November 2020. His widow said of his work there: "He loved it and felt like he could make a difference. He wanted [the residents] to have fulfilling lives and he went above and beyond. He loved them all and had time for all of them. By getting to know them, he was able to help them."

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She described her husband as 'extremely vigilant'.

Mr Ritchie had one-to-one care

The jury heard that at 2.15pm on November 28, 2023, police logged calls from passers-by reporting two people in the canal. Emergency services attended, but sadly both Mr Jenkins and Mr Ritchie were declared dead in hospital later.

Mr Ritchie's care needs had to be 'measured and monitored', the coroner said. The jury heard he enjoyed picnics and going on walks to parks and along the canal - trips he would regularly take with his carers.

He often walked on tiptoes and would sometimes 'burst' into skips and running, the jury heard. The frequency of his seizures - said to be several a day - meant he had one-to-one care.

Mr Ritchie’s cause of death was given as 'cold water drowning' after a post-mortem examination, the court heard. Pathologist Dr Patrick Waugh said he wasn't left alone at any time due to his frequent seizures but whether or not he had experienced a seizure at the time couldn't be 'resolved by pathology', he said.

Cold water, Dr Waugh said, on what was a winter's day, was a factor in the case. "I do not know whether he was having a seizure at the time," he added. "There is always caution exercised around water with people with epilepsy."

Mr Jenkins' cause of death was given as 'drowning'.

Aaron had done the walk 'thousands of times'

Mr Ritchie's aunt, Jacqueline Darbyshire, said he couldn't communicate normally and required supported accommodation at the home from 2007. She said in a statement: "He was a loveable rogue. He knew how to get his own way. He loved balls and laces - he used to hang them on the washing line."

She said he seemed happy and content at Mayfield House, but had 'no sense of fear'.

"Aaron enjoyed going out with the staff, going out on walks," Ms Darbyshire added in the statement. "He particularly liked going for walks down the canal." She said there 'weren't many' warning signs that he was about to have a seizure.

Ms Darbyshire said the canal walk they were on was one of his favourites and he had done it thousands of times. He couldn't swim but wasn't 'attracted' to open water.

"If he went in first, slipped or fell, I don't know," she said. But she said that if Mr Jenkins had gone into the water first, Mr Ritchie wouldn't have jumped in. He would have stayed on the towpath, she added. Ms Darbyshire said there had been no previous examples of 'near misses' near water involving her nephew.

The inquest has been listed for four days.

• Proceeding.