A dad who died “lived life to the fullest”, his inquest was told.
Sean Jack Bower, 26, was found unresponsive by police at a cemetery just off Springfield Crescent in Broadwey, Weymouth, on April 2 of last year following a missing person appeal.
Mr Bower, who lived in Weymouth and has a daughter, was last seen alive on March 30, 2022 after going to the pub with his friend Daniel Kellaway.
Police described the death as non-suspicious and were satisfied there was no third party involvement.
An inquest into his death, held at Dorset Coroner’s Court on Monday, February 6, was told that tests on a bag of white powder found four metres away from his body confirmed the substance as cocaine with a post-mortem ruling he died as a result of acute fatal cocaine intoxication.
Brendan Allen, area coroner for Dorset, read a statement from Tracey Bower, Mr Bower’s mum, who said her son “lived life to the fullest”.
She said: “He lived for the weekend and going out with his friends: Sean at no point gave us any concern he would harm himself. He lived life to the fullest. He could have been skint or flush and he wouldn’t have done anything different. There’s no way he could have done this on purpose.”
Detective Sergeant Graham said, in a statement, Mr Bower had last been seen with his friend, Daniel Kellaway, in Sherborne on March 30.
Mr Kellaway told the inquest Mr Bower seemed ‘his normal self’ and presented no concerns for his welfare before telling Mr Kellaway he would go home to see his mum.
DS Graham said Mr Bower was found at the cemetery having appeared to abandon his works van on Merlin Avenue South, Broadwey, on the evening of March 30, after struggling to turn his vehicle around at the end of the road.
The inquest heard Mr Bower was registered with a drug treatment service, after being referred, and was described as being ‘back on track’ and ‘doing well’.
The last contact Mr Bower had with the service was in January 2022 before his file was closed on March 10 after a period of unanswered messages.
Recording the death as drug-related, coroner Brendan Allen said: “Sean was known to have difficulty with cocaine use and had been seeking the help of drug treatment services up until January 2022 but was no longer in treatment at the time of his death.
“I formally record that Sean Jack Bower’s death was drug related.”
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