Man visiting Brighton died after jumping off Palace Pier drunk

John Horseman, 47, jumped off the pier while in the city with a group of friends at around 6.30pm on the Sunday of the bank holiday weekend in August last year.

One witness who was on the pier with her child said that John, described as a strong swimmer, was “drunk” – while another said “it was a messy dive”.

John, a father-of-one, became unconscious in the water and was in cardiac arrest when he was pulled out by first responders who swam around 300 metres to get him.

• READ MORE: Family's tribute to 'popular' 47-year-old man who died after 'jumping off' Palace Pier

Ambulance crews restarted his heart and got him breathing again, but John had already suffered a hypoxic brain injury, which is a lack of oxygen to the brain, from drowning.

Detective sergeant Duncan Lloyd was on duty that evening of the bank holiday weekend.

He said: “I heard the call that someone had fallen into the water.

John and his friend were sent to the Royal Sussex County Hospital

“I was told by people at the scene that he had deliberately jumped."

Sussex Police took witness statements from the mother who witnessed John stripping off most of his clothes before the dive, as well as two more friends of John who confirmed he had jumped.

John, a carpenter by trade, was also caught on CCTV from the Palace Pier as he jumped on August 28 which allowed police to rule out any suspicious circumstances.

DS Lloyd said it was unlikely that he hit the sea floor when jumping off the pier at low tide.

John at a wedding last summer (Image: Picture courtesy of Keith and Elaine Horseman)

A witness account suggested that he did not rise to the surface straight away and when he did come to the surface, he did not move again and was face down in the water.

John's family decided to turn his life support off on September 7 at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, just over a week after the incident.

John’s friend, who had jumped in to try and save him, had also been taken to hospital but was discharged.

An inquest into John’s death, held at Woodvale Crematorium in Brighton, was told an  ambulance report did not note any injuries such as bruising or cuts on John.

John’s family said they “cannot see a reason” how he went unconscious without hitting the sea floor but understood the ambulance report’s findings that there were no injuries.

No post mortem examination was carried out after John’s life support was turned off.

It was a busy bank holiday weekend evening in Brighton

His family said at the inquest that John “was having a fun day with his friends” in Brighton.

They added that he had a trinket in his pocket which he had bought for his 13-year-old daughter.

Penelope Schofield, acting senior coroner, ruled that the tragedy was a case of death by misadventure rather than an accident because John was “doing an act he wanted to do”.

John, from Luton, had a heart problem and had faced time homeless on the streets in the past.

His family said he also had previous drug issues in the past but had “sorted himself out”.

His brother Craig Horseman said: “He was a fun guy. Bit of a character. He loved his daughter.

“This was a very tragic and unfortunate accident.

“This was probably his ninth life he used bless his heart.”