28-05-2025
Drugs, inexperience, incorrect gear contributed to 2024 drowning, Tasmanian coroner finds
A 38-year-old man had "significant levels" of drugs in his system and was inexperienced in free diving when he drowned in 2024 in Tasmanian waters, a coroner has found.
Coroner Simon Cooper said the man died "between 12 and 13 February 2024" in the vicinity of The Gardens, on the north-east coast.
Mr Cooper found the man drowned whilst free diving — using fins, weight belt, wetsuit, face mask and snorkel but not scuba equipment.
The coroner said the investigation into the death found the man's "weighted dive belt was too heavy for the wetsuit he was wearing".
A toxicological analysis of samples taken at autopsy showed "significant levels of the illicit drugs THC (the active constituent of cannabis), methylamphetamine and MDMA" present in the man's body.
The coroner added during the autopsy, a doctor found "significant evidence of myocardial fibrosis [build-up of scar tissue in the heart] which also probably contributed" to the man's death.
