A CORONER recorded an open verdict at an inquest in to the death of a Blakely man pulled from the Manchester Ship Canal in March. South Manchester deputy coroner Joanne Kearsley said at Tuesday’s hearing there was not enough evidence to suggest 51-year-old paranoid-schizophrenic Robert Bugajski had intended to take his own life.

Earlier the court had heard Robert’s brother, Jan, who now lives in the US, describe him as a ‘loner’ for all of his adult life, who had been sectioned in his teens and was known to take illegal drugs.

Also giving evidence, Mental health worker Patricia Caruthers told the inquest Mr Bugajski had frequently talked about having suicidal thoughts, and that he would sometimes hear voices telling him to harm himself and others, but he had never done so previously.

“He said sometimes he was commanded to jump into things or harm himself, but he said he had developed ways to counter these thoughts, such as listening to music,” she said. “The voices would last a few hours every few weeks so he would take himself to bed to listen to music.

“There was no concern that his mental health was deteriorating,” she added.

But the court heard how on the evening of March 11, at around 5pm, two passersby spotted a man flailing in the ship canal and clawing at the sides to get out near Trafford Road.

By the time emergency services arrived Mr Bugajski was dead, a postmortem later showed he had drowned. The court also heard a police investigation failed to find any witnesses or CCTV footage to explain how Mr Bugajski got in to the canal.

Summing up, coroner Ms Kearsley said: “I accept the medical cause of death was drowning. But there’s just no evidence to explain what happened to him or how he came to be in the canal. In view of that I’m going to record an open verdict.”