Coroner's praise for coastguard

Robert Jones braved a force seven gale to help Phil McWilliam

A coroner has praised the bravery of a 45-year-old volunteer coastguard who leapt into rough seas to save a man.

Robert Jones swam 200ft (61m) to reach Phil McWilliam, of Prenton, a suburb of Birkenhead on Merseyside, clinging to rocks with him until rescuers arrived.

Mr McWilliam suffered severe hypothermia in the drama at Cemaes Bay, Anglesey, last May but his friend Craig Craven, 23, also of Prenton, drowned.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded at the Llangefni inquest.

Mr McWilliam and Mr Craven had been on a camping and fishing trip at Cemaes Bay when the accident happened, the inquest heard.

Coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones said he believed Mr Craven had slipped or been sucked into the sea as he stood close to a slippery seaweed-encrusted concrete cover on an old sewage pipe.

Mr McWilliam survived the cold, Craig might also have survived had he not drunk so much that evening Coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones

Mr McWilliam went to his aid but also got swept away, he said.

The coroner commended the coastguard, who works at Wylfa nuclear power station, for his "very brave" action.

Mr Jones jumped in despite a force seven gale, choppy water and a treacherous tide and waited for 45 minutes with Mr McWilliam before the Holyhead lifeboat arrived on the scene to take them to the shore, the inquest heard.

Mr Craven, pulled from the sea by an RAF helicopter, had two-and-a-half times the alcohol limit for drivers in his blood.

This would have impaired his ability to deal with the emergency and would have lowered his body temperature, commented the coroner.

Mr Pritchard-Jones added: "Mr McWilliam survived the cold. Craig might also have survived had he not drunk so much that evening. We can't say for certain."

After the inquest the Mr Jones, of Cemaes Bay, said: "It was very cold."