Man died after Wolverhampton canal fall, inquest heard
A much-loved brother and father drowned after falling into a canal in Wolverhampton, a coroner has ruled.
The father-of-two was found at around 1pm the following day by a group of teenagers who called the police.
Assistant Coroner for the Black Country Angus Smillie recorded a verdict of accidental death at the inquest, which was held at Smethwick Council House on Tuesday.
Dr Nicholas Hunt, a pathologist for he Home Office, told the inquest Mr Brittain was found with bruising and cuts to his face, consistent with a fall.
Dr Hunt said: "I attended to the scene where a body was found in a canal next to a road with a relatively high wall leading to the canal side.
"There was an obvious complex injury on the left side of his head.
"He had grazing down the left side if his body, and the abrasions were indicative of contact with a hard rough surface. The most obvious hard surface at the scene was the canal edge.
"There was left side rib fractures in keeping with a heavy impact on the left side of his body.
"There were changes to his lungs consistent with drowning."
Detective Constable Christopher Wischhusen, from Harborne Police Station, said police had used CCTV to track Mr Brittain's last movements, which saw him leave KFC in Queen Square, before walking around the city centre and heading towards home.
Mr Brittain had been with his friend, Graham Walker, in KFC before walking towards his home.
Mr Walker said: "We used to meet in KFC but that night he wasn't that talkative.
"He was worried about his sister. When he left me he normally arranges another time to meet up but he didn't that night which was strange."
He said Mr Brittain was quiet that night but didn't think he was suicidal.
Mr Smillie said: "His death was almost certainly caused by drowning by lying unconscious in the canal."
In the weeks after his death Mr Brittain's family paid tribute to 'a much loved brother and father'.
His brother, Kelvin Britain, described him as a keen cyclist and an animal-lover who kept pigeons, chickens and rabbits in the garden of his home in Heath Town.
He added: "William was a bit of a loner who never bothered anyone. He could be a bit of a joker at times and he used to enjoy making people laugh.
"He also had a serious side, but I will remember him as a kind hearted person."
Mr Brittain is survived by two daughters from a previous relationship, both of whom are at university in Northampton.
