BIRTHDAY LAD DIES IN 50FT RIVER LEAP.

Byline: IAN KEY

A MAN who was celebrating his birthday died when he jumped into a river and drowned, an inquest heard yesterday.

David Palmer, 22, had spent the day drinking with friends before "clowning around" on a bridge.

Horrified onlookers watched as he did a handstand on the Milburngate Bridge in Durham and then a back flip into the River Wear 50ft below.

Car passenger Emma Alderson told the inquest: "I saw a group of lads walking across the bridge and I saw the horseplay. It happened in a split second." Andrew McKenna, a friend of Mr Palmer, said: "We were just clowning about, stupidly. I went to flip him over the railings, but as I got back to my feet, David went over. It was just daftness on my and his part."

Mr Palmer, of Walker, Newcastle0n-Tyne, was pulled from the river by police but he had died. He had alcohol and cocaine in his system.

Pathologist Dr Paul Barrett said he had drowned. Coroner Andrew Tweddle said: "This was horseplay that went tragically wrong."

Verdict: accidental death.

CAPTION(S):

TRAGEDY David Palmer