Three possibilities for death of Swanscombe man who was pulled from River Medway, inquests hears
17:21, 04 March 2020
updated: 11:58, 05 March 2020
It is still not known how or when a man whose body was pulled from the River Medway died, an inquest has heard.
Daniel Streeton's body was first spotted on September 5 by the grandson of a yacht owner by the marina at Medway Bridge, who initially mistook it for a buoy.
An inquest at Maidstone's Archbishop's Palace today heard how the 32-year-old, of Stanhope Road, Swanscombe, was pulled from the river at around 7.45pm by the RNLI as emergency services, including the police, paramedics, fire crews, and HM Coastguard swarmed near Rochester Pier.
He had last been seen on Sunday, September 1, heading for Swanscombe High Street, before his body was discovered four days later.
A post mortem gave his cause of death as traumatic brain injury as a result of a fractured skull.
An alcohol level twice the legal driving limit as well as cocaine were found in his system following a toxicology report.
Coroner James Dillon recorded an open conclusion and said there was three possible explanations for the Mr Streeton's death.
The first explained how in August 2018 Daniel was attacked from behind with a rock in Bishop's Way, Maidstone, before being pushed into the nearby river.
He managed to climb out and didn't pursue the case with officers.
Mr Dillon said he could not rule out a similar incident happened before Daniel's death, with DS Susan Dormer agreeing it couldn't be ruled out as there was no evidence to say when the Swanscombe man's body fell into the river.
The second possibility was that unemployed Daniel threw himself into the river, causing the fatal brain injury himself.
Mr Dillon explained how Kim Streeton, the deceased's mother, explained he had threatened to throw himself into the river twice before.
In December 2018 Daniel threatened to throw himself into the river at Maidstone, but was persuaded not to by a passer-by.
The final possibility Mr Dillon suggested was that Daniel, who had been epileptic for a number of years and was suffering daily fits before his death, may have had a seizure which caused him to fall into the river and hit his head.
When discussing the ex-prisoners life the court heard how the former Haysbrook School, Tonbridge, pupil struggled with drug addiction, first taking illegal substances at 12-years-old, before spending some time in prison.
Mr Dillon concluded: "There is no evidence to say how the injury was sustained, where it was sustained or when he entered the river.
"All of us here at the coroners courts offer our condolences to Daniel's family."
Daniel's mum described him as a "clever child" who when aged 11 was in the top 20% of people in the country for his SAT scores.
She says he was let down during his time in prison and when he was let out.
The Tonbridge resident added: "He went into the prison without an addiction and within six years he came out with a heroin problem.
"I though you were meant to be given help when you're in there. I understand it is hard in there to stop, but you don't expect it to get worse."
Daniel was jailed in 2013 for an arson attack on his 57-year-old mother's home and struggled with alcohol and drug use when he came out.
Kim Streeton said: "We didn't expect to get many answers from the inquest.
"It was horrible to have to listen to it, but now we've got to try and move on."
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