A mother has been left devastated after the body of her son was pulled from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal three weeks after he went missing. An inquest has heard how Peter Curphey originally went missing on the day before his birthday. A member of the public later the 44-year-old in a stretch of water near Horton Street on April 11 last year.
An inquest at Bolton Coroner’s Court on Tuesday heard how Mr Curphey had “drowned whilst under the influence of a mixture of drugs”. The inquest heard how Mr Curpphey had a history of mental health issues and substance abuse and that he had been discharged from a mental health unit a few months earlier.
Mr Curphey’s mother, Deborah Mercer, told the inquest her son had excelled at school and was a keen rugby player and simmer. She said he was “charismatic”, but that he fell in with the “wrong crowd” during his teenage years.
The inquest heard that Mr Curphey was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and had spent some time in a mental health hospital. Ms Mercer said she used to visit her son on a daily basis and “shouldered the burden” of his care for ten years.
