An inquest has heard that a 33 year old man had drowned at the Inner Dock in Dublin's north inner city.
The man in question, was Robson Kosana Prince Nkomo, who was living at the Ripley Court Hotel, Talbot Street, Dublin 1. Mr Nkomo, who was a construction worker, was pronounced dead at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital on 11 November 2024.
He was pronounced dead following several efforts over more than four hours to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
The Mater's emergency department had recorded that when the deceased had arrived at the hospital at 10.31pm, he had suffered from the effects of prolonged immersion in water. The report also showed his body had not shown any signs of life, before he was formally pronounced dead at 2.56am the next morning.
Mr Nkomo's body was identified to gardaí at Dublin City Mortuary by his mother, Euredis Chippendo, who gave evidence via video link at Dublin's District Coroner's Court, describing her late son as a "very good swimmer".
Speaking to coroner Clare Keane, Ms Chippendo said that it was her son who taught her how to swim, and he had been swimming since he was a child.
The inquest heard how Mr Nkomo had gone to the Inner Dock in Harbourmaster Place to drink some cans of beer with his friend, Emeraldo Fernandez, who recalled at the court that his friend had tried to persuade him to go back to the Ripley Court Hotel as he was tired and had a four hour train commute to and from work each day.
He then said that Mr Nkomo was heading off before he then lost his balance and fell into the water as he tried to climb over the chain again. Mr Fernandez added that he was shouting at his friend to remove his shoes and back pack.
After jumping into the water to help his friend, Mr Fernandez said that after roughly three minutes, he realised that Mr Nkomo was struggling to stay afloat. He swam to bring Mr Nkomo to an emergency ladder where he and another passer-by were able to keep his friend's head above water.
Mr Fernandez then explained that Mr Nkomo was unresponsive while they were in the water.
In court, Garda Ava Daimon said that Mr Nkomo was removed from the water by officers from the Dublin Fire Brigade, describing his condition at this stage, as critical. She had estimated that Mr Nkomo had been in the Inner Dock for around 40-45 minutes, before he was lifted out of the water.
She said that CCTV of the incident had corroborated the evidence given by Mr Fernandez earlier, as well confirming that a passer-by had thrown a lifebuoy towards the two men.
Later, the coroner said that a post mortem examination had showed Mr Nkomo had died from drowning.
Corner Dr Keane said that Mr Nkomo had a blood-alcohol reading of just under four times the legal drink-driving limit. While such a level was "not extremely high", Dr Keane said that Mr Nkomo would have been ruled intoxicated.
Returning a misadventure verdict, Dr Keane said that there were a number of other risk factors regarding his death, including that he had gained access to an area protected by chains, as well as the fact that he was tired, and had a backpack on his back prior to falling into the water.
Mr Nkomo's mother, Ms Chippendo said that she had experienced cold plunges where she could only stay in the water for two minutes maximum.
But she did say that having learned the full details regarding her son's death, she has a "peace of mind".
Dr Keane later offered her condolences to Mr Nkomo's family who had attended the inquest via video link, including his twin sister, Ruth Nkomo and former partner, Alicia Corridan also attended.
Reports in RTÉ said that Ruth Nkomo described her brother's death as "an extremely unexpected event".
