A 'superstar' dad who went missing for a month before he was found drowned in the River Severn had begun 'acting strangely' moments before he suddenly jumped over a garden wall and disappeared, an inquest has been told.

Father of two Thomas Bates of The Birches, Stourport on Severn, was about to become a dad for the third time when he died in March this year after his disappearance in Chepstow, Gwent.

He and his partner Danielle Parks had two daughters and Ms Parkes was expecting their first son.  Mr Bates was well known in his local community for his tribute performances as rap star 'Eminem.'

The Gloucester inquest was told he had suddenly become 'distressed and paranoid' after drinking with a group of men he had met in Chepstow on the night of March 2, 2023.

One of the men watched as Mr Bates climbed over a garden wall and ran towards the River. His body was found on the river sandflats at Overton Farm, Arlingham, Gloucestershire, a month later on April 1st.
 
Post mortem and toxicological tests revealed he had alcohol and cocaine in his body. His death was due to drowning.

The assistant Gloucestershire Coroner Roland Wooderson heard that Thomas was working in the Chepstow area in early March and at a pub in the town on March 2nd he met a group of Severn Tunnel workers and had some drinks with them.

One of the tunnel contractors, Jardslan Grabias, stated to the inquest that he recognised Tom from the photograph that had been published with the missing person report in the local media. He said he contacted the police to tell them he had met up with Tom during the evening of March 2.

Mr Grabias stated “On March 2, this year we had decided to go out as this was our last night in Chepstow. We met up at The Bell Hanger, the Wetherspoon’s pub in the town. During the evening I went outside for a cigarette and I noticed a man sitting on his own.
 
“We started talking and he told me his name was Tom. I had never seen or spoken to him before. We had a general conversation about our respective trades and he said that he was also working in the local area as a carpenter.

“Tom appeared lonely and I invited him to join me and my colleagues. After we had a few beers we decided to leave. It was decided to go to Tesco and purchase some more beers.

“From Tesco we walked through the car park towards the church. Tom left his car where it was, which I thought was odd.

“He appeared puzzled when I enquired was it safe to leave it there. We walked past the church to Lower Church Street, where my accommodation was. I went in to use the toilet and when I returned Tom had entered and found himself in the living room.

“I began regretting that Tom had accompanied me as I had to work the next day. I had a few beers and a bit of rum. I don’t know what Tom consumed. 

“We were in the house for an hour before Tom took himself to the toilet upstairs. When he came out he began acting strangely. He seemed distressed and paranoid and I took him outside for a cigarette. His behaviour got worse as he kept looking up at the windows as if somebody was watching him.

“I didn’t know what had changed. We went inside for a couple of minutes before returning to the garden. He now appeared vacant as if he wasn’t there.

“Then all of a sudden he climbed up the wall at the back of the garden and disappeared. I tried to climb up the wall to see where he had gone, but couldn’t.

“His behaviour seemed really strange to me.”

Neighbour Douglas Mayo told the inquest he believed Mr Bates had entered his garden just after midnight in the early hours of March 3. He said that he heard the back gates rattling and went to investigate. He saw a man running off towards the river front.

Detective Sergeant Sophie Dawkins of Gloucestershire Constabulary stated that on April 1st she attended the bank of the Severn, where paramedics had attended after a man’s body was found by a member of the public. The body was officially recorded as deceased at 3.59pm.

DS Dawkins stated that no suspicious injuries were found on the man.

A post-mortem was carried out by Dr Matthew Beesley who stated that Mr Bates’ body had begun decomposing but he was still able to establish that he had inhaled river water prior to death, consistent with that of drowning.

Dr Beesley said that toxicology samples had been taken and revealed that Mr Bates had consumed a quantity of alcohol prior to death, the level being under drink drive limit of 73 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, the legal limit being 80.

Dr Beesley said that Mr Bates had consumed a quantity of cocaine at some point prior to death, but he couldn’t establish that the use of the drug had an effect of his state of mind at the time.

Dr Beesley concluded that the medical cause of death was drowning.