Swimmer drowned in Hertfordshire lake after taking drugs during heatwave

A swimmer drowned at a reservoir on one of the hottest days of last year, an inquest heard.

Window cleaner Lewis Saggers, 24, had taken alcohol, ketamine and cocaine when he went swimming at Hadham Hall, in Hertfordshire.

An inquest in Hertford heard that Mr Saggers was being treated for depression.

Hertfordshire's assistant coroner Jonathan Stevens said he could not find that he took his own life.

He said that Mr Saggers, from Aldbury, had been looking forward to moving into a flat with his girlfriend and going on holiday together.

The inquest heard Mr Saggers went into the reservoir near Bishop's Stortford on Tuesday 19 July 2022 with his boss Will Nobbs.

Mr Nobbs told the hearing about 50 people were swimming, and Mr Saggers got out after about five minutes.

He said Mr Saggers disappeared and he initially assumed he had gone off with friends.

A search was carried out that evening, and the following day firefighters used a pole to probe the lake.

Two days later, Mr Saggers' body was discovered in the 20ft (6m) deep water by divers using a sonar device.

Pathologist Dr Preethi Gopinath said the cause of death was immersion in water caused by alcohol intoxication. Cocaine and ketamine found in his body indirectly contributed to his death.

The inquest heard he had made previous suicide attempts.

But Mr Saggers' girlfriend Kady Brown said "he seemed happy" on the day he drowned.

She told the coroner: "He said he loved me and couldn't wait to move in with me. He seemed really excited."

Mr Saggers' mother Tracey Saggers described her son as a "happy young man who instantly lit up a room."

The coroner gave a narrative conclusion, saying he could not be satisfied Mr Saggers intended to take his own life.

He concluded Mr Saggers "was lifted by news of the flat and had a holiday to look forward to".

He said the alcohol had impaired him, "particularly in the cold waters".

"The most likely sequence of events is that he did just go for a swim but, under the influence of alcohol and, indirectly, drugs, it caused him to get into trouble and that resulted in him drowning."

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