Sonny Ferry

Sonny Ferry drowned in the River Foss on 13 April 2019.

His inquest returned a verdict of accidental death but his mother said that she thought it was suspicious.

It was noted that an attempt had been made to use his bank card on the night he died and a witness said that they heard splashing coming from the river at about 4.30am and the sound of someone calling out for help, saying something like, 'help mate', or 'help me'.

His mother said that his death was, 'more than just an accident', adding that she didn't think that the evidence could be described as being non-suspicious.

Sonny Ferry had been out to the Kuda nightclub on the night he died with workmates but had become separated from them. He had gone to York with two friends for a job as a labourer for the first time and had been staying in a hotel. He was later removed from the nightclub and was seen in CCTV footage walking off in the wrong direction from his hotel.

A woman that heard the call for help and splashing in the water called 999 and the emergency services were called out. They searched for him for an hour, but his body was not found until the following day.

His mother said, 'I think they were too soon to just think 'he's been out drinking and he's fallen in the river, that's what happens in York', and added that she thought that they should have carried out door-to-door inquiries as part of an investigation into the incident.

She had said that she thought that Sonny Ferry had been killed elsewhere following foul play and then dumped in the river. However, the police said that he had died from natural causes.

His parents said that they thought that robbery, sexual jealousy or drugs could have all been possible factors in his death.

Sonny Ferry's family said that his post mortem showed that he died from cardio-pulmonary arrest and that he had not drowned or ingested any water and thought that he must have suffered the heart attack before going into the water.

Sonny Ferry's friend and housemate said that a few days before he died that he had won £10,000 on online roulette and that he thought that he might have been robbed by someone that had  found out about his winnings. He added that Sonny Ferry had a complicated private life and thought that sexual jealousy might have been a motive.

Sonny Ferry's aunt said that she thought that Sonny Ferry might have been given drugs before he died or that his drink might have been spiked and that that might have caused his heart attack and that someone with him had dumped him in the river in order to avoid questions.

It was noted that his wallet was missing at the time of his death, but that it was not until June 2019 that the police asked Sonny Ferry's relatives to check his debit card usage at which time it was noted that it had been fraudulently used at the time of his death, but that by then it was too late to check for CCTV footage to find out who had used it.

The police later arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of stealing the wallet but he was later released without charge.

It was also heard that around the end of July 2019 that the police told Sonny Ferry's relatives for the first time that two men had been seen on the Blue Bridge moments after he went in, not far from where Sonny Ferry went into the water.