AN INQUEST has opened into the death of a man whose body was found in the River Usk at Newport on Saturday.
Gwent coroner David Bowen yesterday opened the inquest into 36-year-old Gareth Davison Donnell.
The inquest heard how police were called to the George Street bridge area in Newport at 10.15am on Saturday after receiving a report a man had been seen entering the River Usk and disappeared under the water.
An inshore rescue boat from the Severn Area Rescue Association and a police helicopter team were among those that took part in the search.
After the tide had receded, Mr Davison Donnell’s body was recovered from the river bank near Castle Bingo at around 4.30pm the same day.
The inquest heard Mr Davison Donnell was born in Downpatrick in County Down, Northern Ireland, and was living in the Cardiff area.
A post mortem examination was carried out at the Royal Gwent Hospital which gave the cause of death as drowning.
Police said there are no suspicious circumstances and that enquiries are still continuing into how Mr Davison Donnell entered the water.
Mr Bowen adjourned the inquest for three months to allow police enquiries to take place and released the body to his family for funeral purposes.
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