Victor Brookes

Victor Brookes was found dead in the River Lea in Saltley, Birmingham in February 1984.

However, it was not known how he died.

He had lived in Jersey Road, Saltley and had been an unemployed builders labourer and had been being treated for depression.

It was noted that whilst he had been warned not to drink whilst taking tablets, that he had had two or three glasses of cider.

The pathologist said that he died from drowning and a fractured skull, consistent with a fall.

Following his death, a massive police investigation was launched into it, however, they were unable to say how he came to die.

When the Coroner recorded an open verdict, he said that there was no evidence to conclude that he had been unlawfully killed, or had committed suicide, and that there was insufficient proof that his fall from the canal bridge had been an accident.