Clacton: Student possibly felt 'pressured' into sea before drowning

It took four days before Mr Sahu's body was found three miles further down the coast at Jaywick

A 21-year-old student who could not swim may have felt peer pressured into entering the sea before drowning moments later, a coroner has said.

Sujal Sahu died at Clacton Pier in Essex on 19 July 2022, the UK's hottest day on record.

His mother Usha Sahu told an inquest her son would not have gone into the sea out of choice.

Senior coroner for Essex Lincoln Brookes recorded his death as an accident.

"Why Mr Sahu entered the water when he was not a good swimmer is not something I can easily answer," said Mr Brookes.

"It may have been there was peer-group pressure; it may have been he wanted not to be left out; it may have been he thought the sea water he was entering looked safe."

The group were believed to have been caught out by the unusually low spring tide

Essex Police Ch Insp Martin Richards estimated up to 70 emergency service professionals were at Clacton-on-Sea that day

Mr Sahu studied at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and lived in Cambridge, and Essex coroner's court heard he was one of about 14 people - mostly colleagues - who arrived at Clacton-on-Sea's East Beach at about 10:30 BST.

The mercury reached about 35C in Clacton that day, while other parts of the UK surpassed 40C.

Zerda Sanik said in a written statement she was one of six people who went in the sea, estimating the group were about "six car lengths" from the pier with the water up to their waists.

She said "all of a sudden a large forceful wave" hit the group and they were carried under the pier where the water is deeper.

They were believed to have been caught out by an unusually low spring tide, which occurs when there is a new or full moon.

The Clacton Coastguard Search and Rescue Team, pictured on 20 July, were part of the missing person operation

"Underneath the pier I was in sheer panic and felt completely powerless," said Ms Sanik.

"I was drowning; I couldn't breath and I genuinely believed I would die."

Two of the group were rescued by Tendring District Council Beach Patrol officer Sam Foley, who arrived on a Jet Ski.

Three others clung to life rings thrown from the pier before being picked up by a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) crew.

A beach patrol officer was the first to help the group of six people in the water

There are signs at the beach entrances and on the promenade about water safety at Clacton

Emergency services launched a major search operation for Mr Sahu but his body was not found until 06:43 on 23 July, by a fisherman near the Jaywick Martello Tower about three miles to the west.

Usha and Vrati Sahu - the victim's mother and sister who joined the inquest via video link - questioned why there was not more signage warning people of water dangers.

Graeme Richardson, area life-saving manager for the RNLI, referenced signs visible along the promenade and added: "We find that while signage is there and is good, it doesn't tend to change behaviours or bring about that much life-saving from it unfortunately."

Mr Brookes suggested extra warning signs should be fixed to the pier and Mike Carran, assistant director for economic growth and leisure at the council, told the court that two movable "banner signs" were due to be introduced for this summer's high season.

'Imponderables'

The family questioned whether Mr Sahu was taken into the water by force and Usha Sahu, speaking via a Hindi interpreter, said: "Our boy, our child, would not have gone into the water."

Mr Brookes said: "They are concerned there was some crime behind the death of their loved one but I can find no evidence and the police have come across no evidence to suggest or substantiate that concern.

"Why weren't there more deaths that day? More tragedies? This court is not designed to try to attempt to answer those sorts of imponderables."

Mr Sahu was originally from Ajmer in Rajasthan, India, and an ARU spokesman said it continued to offer support "where needed" to his fellow students.

At least four young people have died after getting into difficulty in the water at Clacton-on-Sea in the past five years, including Ben Quartermaine in July 2018 and siblings Haider and Malika Shamas in August 2019.