A MAN died as a result of an accident while fishing, a coroner’s court has heard.

At an inquest at Plymouth Coroner’s Court on Thursday, February 4, coroner Caroline Saunders considered the evidence from experts and witnesses about the circumstances surrounding the death of Gary David Steere, 51, who died on September 18.

Mr Steere, of Allotment Gardens, Kingsbridge, was recovered from the sea near Gara Rock Hotel by the Salcombe RNLI at 3.20am on September 18, 2015, having been reported missing by his step-daughter after midnight.

Mr Steere had left to go fishing, a passion of his, at around 8am on September 17. This was the last time his wife Alison, a former Dartmouth Business Improvement District manager, saw him alive and she said he seemed ‘upbeat and happy’.

At around 5.30pm that afternoon, Mrs Steere attempted to call her husband to tell him she was going out but got his mobile answer phone. She wasn’t concerned as he often fished all day. She sent him two text messages at 8pm and 11.30pm, but received no reply.

When she returned home to find that he was still not home, her daughter Elizabeth called the police to report him missing. Mrs Steere stayed at home while her daughter and a friend of Mr Steere’s went looking for him.

Two Coast and Rescue teams, Kingsbridge Police, the South West Ambulance Service, Salcombe RNLI and a Search and Rescue Helicopter all took part in the search.

Police located Mr Steere’s vehicle at the car park of the Gara Rock Hotel and located his rucksack and belongings on rocks nearby.

A statement from PC Bryce stated that the route down to the area Mr Steere was fishing off was steep with rough terrain and they had considered using rope teams to access it. He said that nothing pointed toward in ‘any other direction’ than to an accident.

A statement from Mr Steere’s GP stated that he had last visited Norton Brook Medical Centre in 2011 and he was not on any medication or had any long term health conditions. A statement from his wife stated that the only medical issue he had was deteriorating eyesight, which occasionally meant he misjudged distances.

A post mortem was carried out and the pathologist stated that Mr Steere had a large laceration on the back of his head and bruising, extensive abrasions to his forehead, with bruising on the skull but no fracture. She said the injuries were consistent with impact on rocks.

She said there was no definite evidence of drowning and it was possible that Mr Steere had been dead before he went into the water. She stated that his cause of death was cerebral hypoxia, or lack of oxygen to the brain, due to blood loss from the head injury.

Coroner Caroline Saunders concluded that his death was an accident.