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Retired postman 'could have cycled to his death in his sleep'

Sleepwalker went missing in the middle of the night... taking his bike and helmet with him

A retired postman who drowned in a river may have cycled to his death in his sleep, an inquest has heard.

John Patrick Sullivan, 66, of Abergavenny, was found missing from his bed in the early hours of February 22nd.

His wife, searching the house, found that his bicycle and helmet were missing.

Rose Sullivan said her husband of 39 years was prone to sleepwalking and was occasionally found outside the house in the night with no memory of going there.

After noticing that the bike and helmet were missing, but the florescent jacket was still hung up, Mrs Sullivan decided to take the route her husband would usually travel on his bike.

When she couldn’t find him, she called the police.

Mrs Sullivan told the court, according to the South Wales Argus: "I believe John had one of his episodes."

She said her husband "wasn't dressed appropriately for a bike ride at that time of the morning".

The bike and helmet were found on the banks of the River Usk by a dog walker, and a search of the area discovered the body of Mr Sullivan 300 yards downstream. He had drowned.

Coroner David T Bowen returned an open verdict. He said no other conclusion could be made as there was "no evidence" to the circumstance in which Mr Sullivan entered the water.

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10 comments

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CygnusX1 | 5 years ago
1 like

The "What's Hot" side panel does seem to have a bizarre algorithm driving it.

 

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Yorkshire wallet | 5 years ago
1 like

Never looked at the date, it was on the 'list' of stuff to look and i clicked it. I blame road.cc

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CygnusX1 | 5 years ago
1 like

What's suddenly reactivated this thread after 2 years? (I believe the term is "zombie thread", but given its about someone dying its a tad innapropriate). 

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peted76 | 5 years ago
0 likes

How very odd. Poor family. 

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Yorkshire wallet | 5 years ago
0 likes

Surely you'd wake up once you hit the water?

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Cupov | 7 years ago
2 likes

Show some respect. Yeah you toxmarz.

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ChrisB200SX replied to Cupov | 7 years ago
2 likes

Cupov wrote:

Show some respect. Yeah you toxmarz.

Wind your neck in. Seemed like a reasonable conclusion to me. Do bikes tend to float and wash up on riverbanks?

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leisurist | 7 years ago
0 likes

Kind of ironic he took his helmet with him to his death.

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Mungecrundle replied to leisurist | 7 years ago
1 like
leisurist wrote:

Kind of ironic he took his helmet with him to his death.

Your point being?

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Toxmarz | 7 years ago
0 likes

Maybe he was actually taking his bike to go sleep swimming.

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