Open verdicts have been returned concerning the deaths of two homeless men who appear to have drowned hours apart in Dublin’s Grand Canal, as not all facts relating to what happened could be established.
Alex Warnick (42), originally from the United States, and Donal Scanlon (49), originally from Ballybunion, Co Kerry were discovered near the Charlemont Luas stop on the morning of July 6th, after a body was reported floating “nearly upright” by a passing jogger.
Both men were pronounced deceased shortly after 9am.
The pair had been sleeping in tents on the bank of the canal, described by one witness as being narrow and “almost as wide as the tent itself”.
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A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard evidence on Friday that Mr Scanlon’s body was “still warm” when he was discovered floating “almost directly” over the completely submerged body of Mr Warnick.
Det Garda Brian Flannery told the inquest he could not speak on the circumstances leading up to the drownings as they were unwitnessed, though he ruled out any third-party involvement.
While gardaí occasionally receive reports of bodies in the canal, it was “unusual” to have two, he said. “The only two people that know why they entered the water are unfortunately no longer with us,” he said.
Although the times they entered the water are unknown, an international protection applicant who had been sleeping in a tent at the other side of the canal, directly opposite Mr Warnick and Mr Scanlon’s tents, recalled hearing a man shouting between 3.15am and 3.30am.
“The male never cried for help, he was just shouting, I just thought the shouting might have been a drunk person or something,” his submission read.
Mr Warnick’s body, which was discovered after Mr Scanlon as it was completely submerged, showed signs of aquatic animal predation damage and wrinkling of the skin, indicating a prolonged submersion in the water.
Both bodies had bruises and abrasions likely sustained on entry or while in the water, the inquest heard, while Mr Warnick’s toxicology results noted his blood alcohol level as being five times the legal limit for driving.
His results indicated he had stopped drinking an hour or two before his death, while Mr Scanlon’s indicated he had stopped drinking several hours before his death.
Both sets of toxicology results detected Alprazolam, a benzodiazepine, though it was found to be at a “toxic level” for Mr Warnick.
Both medical causes of death were noted as drowning, with Mr Warnick’s noting acute alcohol and benzodiazepine intoxication as a contributory factor.
Andrew Haire, who had been sleeping in one of the two tents with Mr Scanlon, said the last thing he remembered was being in the tent.
“I thought I might have been in the canal, but I don’t know, I don’t think so,” he said, adding that he had fallen into the water about 12 months prior, further adding that Mr Warnick had nearly fallen into the canal previously.
“The amount of drinking that was going on, we weren’t exactly stable,” he said.
Coroner Dr Clare Keane returned open verdicts for both men, as not all facts or circumstances could be established into the “very tragic” deaths.
“We simply do not know the full circumstances of how either Mr Scanlon or Mr Warnick entered the water,” she said, adding it appeared they had entered at two different times.
Family members of both Mr Scanlon and Mr Warnick could not say for certain whether they could swim.
Greg Warnick, who last spoke to his son two or three weeks before his death, said there was “always a concern, as a parent, for Alex, because he had been homeless for a long time”.
Attending the inquest remotely, Mr Warnick said his son seemed “quite upbeat” the last time they had spoken, as he had come into some inheritance which would have potentially changed his life, adding that it was “encouraging”.
The inquest heard that Mr Warnick’s mother, with whom he had moved to the UK from the US, had died five months before his death. The trained chef had lived in Ireland for about seven years.
Mr Scanlon’s sister Sarah, meanwhile, who had last spoken to her brother almost a year beforehand at their father’s funeral, described him as a “very kind-hearted person” that everyone had “fond memories” of.
“He’s missed especially by us, his family,” she said.
