Best man lost in Patshull Park lake was loved by everyone

A best man who is feared to have drowned during a late-night swim at a wedding was "loved by everyone", his family said today.

Patrick Cody, aged 26, from Sedgley, was one of three best men at a wedding reception at Patshull Park Hotel & Country Club near Wolverhampton on Friday night.

Police diving teams today resumed the grim search of the club's fishing lake for his body.

His uncle Bill Cody, of Wall Heath, former mayor of Dudley in 1997, said: "Everyone loved Patrick - he was one of those characters you couldn't not like.

"He would listen to me ranting on about politics for hours and pretend he was interested. He was just the life and soul of everywhere he went. This such a terrible shock for us all."

Patrick attended mass at St Chad's and All Saints Church in Sedgley most Sundays with his father, Dennis, aged 60, who was today too upset to speak.

Special prayers were led there yesterday by Rev Joseph Narikuzhi, who conducted the wedding of Mr Cody's friends David and Sarah Abiss on Friday.

Rev Narikuzhi said: "People had tears in their eyes. Patrick was a very nice man and a pleasant fellow. We are all in shock."

A keen Aston Villa fan, Mr Cody was an ex-pupil of St Chad's Catholic Primary in Sedgley and Bishop Milner Catholic School in Dudley.

After graduating from Liverpool University in 2005, he had a number of temporary jobs before signing up for a teacher training course for September. His father is headteacher at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Dudley.

His parents were not at the wedding reception but rushed to the scene on Saturday. Mr Cody's sister, Anna, 27, a teacher at Dormston School in Sedgley, was at the wedding.

The alarm was raised on Friday night after guests heard shouts for help coming from outside the hotel.

Mr Cody, who suffered from asthma, had been swimming towards boats on the opposite bank.