Cockfield camper died in Angle Tarn night-time fall after drinking

A wild camper died after falling 40ft (12m) above a Lake District tarn while trying to get back to his tent after a drinking session, an inquest has heard.

Daniel Law, 24 and from Cockfield near Bishop Auckland, died at Angle Tarn in Patterdale in July 2022.

Cumbria assistant coroner Craig Smith heard Mr Law had gone camping with three friends and was trying to avoid a boggy area by walking higher up a hill.

Mr Smith recorded the death was as a result of misadventure.

The inquest in Cockermouth heard Mr Law, who worked in logistics for the RAF based at RAF Leeming, travelled to Patterdale from County Durham with three friends on the morning of 16 July.

The group walked up to Angle Tarn where they set up camp, went for a swim, enjoyed the sunset, cooked a meal and started drinking.

At about midnight, two of the group went to bed but Mr Law and his friend Dylan Robinson walked round the tarn to join another group of campers they had met earlier in the day who had invited them over for drinks.

As they walked round, Mr Law dropped the torch and the pair only had the light from a phone to navigate by, Mr Smith heard.

The pair spent two hours with the other group drinking then attempted to make their way back to their own camp, but Mr Law got stuck in a bog and had to be pulled free by some of the other campers.

He left his shirt to dry by a fire, then Mr Law and Mr Robinson made to walk back around the tarn on higher, grassy ground which turned to a rocky area.

In a statement read to the inquest, Mr Robinson said the next thing he was aware of was coming to at the foot of a steep bank feeling confused and disorientated.

He said he saw Mr Law a short distance away and tried to call to him, but he did not answer.

Mr Robinson said he was still drunk but managed to crawl to his tent, where their two friends found him "groaning" at about 07:30 BST on 17 July and phoned for help.

Mr Robinson was airlifted to hospital where he spent several weeks, while Mr Law's body was recovered by the Patterdale Mountain Rescue team at the bottom of a 40ft (12m)-high drop, the inquest heard.

Mr Law was found to have 172 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, more than double the drink-drive limit, and Mr Smith said that would be sufficient to "impair cognitive behaviour and motor function".

The assistant coroner said there was no evidence of foul play or intent by Mr Law to kill himself and the cause of death was severe head injuries that would probably have been un-survivable even if medical help had got there sooner.

He said Mr Law was intoxicated and "less sure-footed than he otherwise would have been" and he and Mr Robinson were in unfamiliar surroundings and had been "woefully underequipped to traverse a rocky area at height in darkness".

In a statement read to the inquest, Mr Law's father Andrew said his son was "kind, funny and loving" and "saw the best in people", adding: "He would do anything for anyone."

He said Mr Law had always been active and adventurous and would enjoy playing practical jokes and pranks on his friends and family.

Mr Law had been with his partner since they were children and planned to get married, buy a house and have three children, the inquest heard.

Mr Law's father said: "Daniel was very much loved by friends, family and colleague and will be sorely missed, however he lived life to the full and achieved so much."

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