Bath student James Bubear: Accidental death verdict

James Bubear was last seen alive leaving a fancy dress party in Bath

The death of a Bath student who went missing after a night out in the city was an accident, a coroner has said.

James Bubear, 19, from Llandrindod Wells, Powys, was last seen alive in CCTV footage, walking along James Street West, on 13 March.

His body was found in the River Avon on 4 April. He had drowned.

An inquest in Flax Bourton, Bristol, heard he had been drinking heavily on the night he went missing and was asked to leave the bar he was in.

Mr Bubear, who was studying at Bath Spa University, was last seen by friends when he left a fancy dress party at the Revolution bar in George Street.

Personal items, including his mobile phone and passport, were found by a street cleaner on James Street West the day after he disappeared.

Despite an extensive search, his body was not discovered until the following month when it was spotted near the Locksbrook sluice gates at Twerton by a worker from the Environment Agency.

Coroner Maria Voisin said it was suspicious Mr Bubear did not take his usual route home to his student housing at Waterside Court, but recorded a verdict of accidental death.