He was having fun at 'Cheadle Beach'... but it ended in a tragedy

A "kind and caring" dad-to-be with a "pure heart" drowned in a brook looking for his necklace after rescuing a boy from the water, an inquest has heard.

Personal trainer Junaid Athar, 27, whose wife is due to give birth imminently, was pulled from Micker Brook, in Cheadle, Stockport, in May this year. He was rushed to hospital but could not be saved.

Talented rugby player and MMA fighter Junaid, who was under the influence of ketamine at the time, "lost his footing" and his death was a tragic accident, a coroner has now ruled.

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Junaid had spent the day with the boy, an inquest into his death at Stockport Coroner's Court heard. The pair went to the George and Dragon pub in Cheadle village where Junaid is said to have drank "a few pints of Guinness."

He is also said to have bought and consumed ketamine, a horse tranquiliser used as a recreational drug. The pair left the pub at around 7pm and went to an area known locally as 'Cheadle Beach', a "small sandy bank" next to the Micker Brook, a tributary of the River Mersey off Wilmslow Road, which sits next to a "fast-flowing weir."

The area was "generally dangerous" and it was a wet night meaning it was very slippery in the area, and the weir was flowing faster than usual, the hearing was told. Junaid also had no grip on his trainers.

A local resident reported hearing "two males running up and down the path having fun," Detective Inspector Matthew Dixon, from Greater Manchester Police (GMP), told the hearing.

The boy told police they were "playing, having piggybacks, chilling" before he fell into the water and "Junaid had helped to get him out." He told them Junaid then "went back into the water and started to struggle, calling for help," DI Dixon said.

"He believed he had lost his chain," the officer said. Footage from The George and Dragon showed the boy removing a chain from Junaid's neck and putting it around his own, he added.

The boy, who was said to be "extremely distressed", made a 999 call at 7.50pm from Junaid's phone saying that he was "drowning in the lake."

Police, paramedics, and fire crews specialising in water rescue rushed to the scene and Junaid was pulled from the water at 8.27pm with CPR beginning immediately. Efforts continued both at the scene and at Wythenshawe Hospital however he was pronounced dead at 9.25pm.

One of Junaid's two brothers, his sister, mother, and sister-in-law were present at Stockport Coroner's Court for the hearing. Brother Zohaib said: "He was a very caring individual. He had a pure heart. He would always go out of his way to help whoever he could. He was a loving brother and son to members of his family."

Speaking on behalf of the family after the inquest, sister Natasha said Junaid's wife Irtaza was due to give birth to a baby boy in a fortnight's time.

She told the Manchester Evening News: "He had a heart of gold. He was like a father figure to every child in his family. And he was really, really excited to become a father to his child. He had his whole life ahead of him.

"We will make sure his legacy lives on and he knows all about his dad. His wife is being supported. She's with us and we're going to raise the child together as one unit."

"I have lost a part of me," Natasha added. "This is the hardest thing I have ever had to go through. If anyone has a sibling, always be there for one another."

Coroner's conclusion

Recording a conclusion that his death was an accident, Assistant Coroner Adrian Farrow said: "Nothing supports the view that he deliberately set out to cause harm to himself, to the contrary, his primary concern was (the boy)". He said their day was "characterised by fun and enjoyment."

He said he had gone back into the water to "retrieve a lost item of jewellery", specifically a "neck chain he thought had fallen off." He said the drugs and alcohol meant he was "likely to have taken less care than if he would have been entirely sober."

"I find that that the slippery conditions, the lack of grip on his trainers, together with the ketamine and alcohol he had taken, meant when he fell in the water he was unable to get himself back to the surface and that it was that that brought about his death," Mr Farrow concluded.

A post-mortem gave Junaid's medical cause of death as 1A) asphyxia, 1B) drowning, and 1C) drug use and alcohol intoxication. Toxicology analysis showed the level of alcohol in his blood was 119mg/dl, the legal limit for driving being 80.

He also had ketamine in his blood which was "within the range encountered in ketamine related deaths." There was also "recent evidence of cocaine use", the report added.