Owen Jenkins, 12, was swept away by the current at Beeston Weir after responding to his friends’ screams for help

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A schoolboy drowned after rescuing his friend from a river when they screamed for help, an inquest has heard.



Owen Jenkins, 12, noticed his friends Jorgie Myers and Chelsea Holroyd were in trouble in the water at Beeston Weir, in Nottinghamshire, last July.

After lifting Jorgie out of the river, Owen was swept away by the current. His body was found by underwater rescuers hours later in the river Trent.

A postmortem confirmed he died from drowning and no illicit or prescribed substances were involved.

The hearing at Nottinghamshire coroner’s court was attended by Owen’s mother Nicola, father Gary – who wore a purple T-shirt that read “For Owen” – and brother Jordan, among other family members.

The coroner, Mairin Casey, said Owen, from Beeston, went to Beeston Weir on 10 July with four friends: Jorgie, Chelsea, Paige Haworth and Emma Keeton.

“At some point they got into some kind of trouble in the water and clearly Paige, Emma and Owen became aware of that and perceived Jorgie and Chelsea to be having difficulty,” Casey said.

“It was at that point that Chelsea and Jorgie were in trouble and he took the decision to enter the water himself. Owen undressed and entered the water. He managed to throw her some distance [towards the shore] before he himself couldn’t resist the current.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A weir on the river Trent and Beeston canal. Photograph: Alamy

A statement from Jorgie, read to the court by the coroner, said: “Chelsea and I decided to walk out into the water a bit further. We were holding hands. She said she could feel the water pulling her. We continued to wade out and the water kept getting deeper.

“I started to panic because I could feel the water pulling me. I didn’t know what to do because I couldn’t swim. I screamed to Owen: ‘Help us, we’re floating away, we need help.’”

The coroner said Owen shouted to Emma to get Chelsea while he rescued Jorgie.

The girl’s statement continued: “I was pulled out of the water; I saw that Owen had got to me and lifted me up like someone carrying a baby. He then dropped me and told me to lay on my back and drift back to the shore.”

Ruth Hyde, of Broxtowe borough council, told the court that warning notices would be erected near the weir. “They give a clear message to anyone who is thinking of entering the water that it is dangerous,” she said.

Hyde said a temporary barrier had been installed shortly after the incident and life-saving equipment had been stored nearby.

A Nottinghamshire police official told the court he was satisfied no criminality was involved in Owen’s death.