A JURY has returned an open verdict on the death of a young man whose body was found on a beach on Christmas Eve in Co Donegal.
The jury yesterday heard medical evidence that Paul Foster had drowned.
Mr Foster (26) was home from London for Christmas, staying with his mother Miriam at Ernedale Heights, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal.
After a night socialising with friends, his body was found shortly after noon on December 24th on the beach at Maghery, Bundoran.
His inquest in Donegal town heard from two friends that he was with them until about 1.30am in a pub in Bundoran when he left.
His fully clothed body was discovered 11 hours later by a man taking his children for a walk on the beach.
Garda Gerry Foy said the body was found near rocks at the end of a promenade.
While the promenade was well lit, walking on the rocks would have been very difficult. “He would have had to jump from one rock to the other,” the garda said.
The dead man’s mother, Miriam Foster, asked why, when the inquest had heard that the last recorded sighting of her son was at about 1am, a doctor wrote in his report that he was told that the last sighting was between 2am and 3am.
Coroner Dr Diarmuid Hegarty said however that such discrepancies were not unusual.
Dr Hegarty said the jury had to decide if death was self-inflicted, the result of foul play or accidental.
If the jurors did not think they had enough evidence pointing specifically to one of the three, they had the additional option of returning an open verdict.