Inquests to be held into deaths of two young men who fell into York's rivers

The inquests into the deaths of two men who fell into the rivers running through York city centre are to be held on the same day.
Sonny Ferry, 19Sonny Ferry, 19
Sonny Ferry, 19

Joseph Rainham, 35, and Sonny Ferry, 19, died in separate, unconnected incidents in 2019.

Their deaths have both attracted significant media coverage and their families have speculated about the circumstances that led to them entering the water.

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Sonny, a construction labourer from Rutland who was working in York, died after a night out in the city in April 2019 and his body was recovered from the River Foss.

York city centreYork city centre
York city centre

His parents complained about North Yorkshire Police's handling of the case as they believed investigations had been closed too early.

Sonny's wallet was missing when his body was found and police later discovered his bank cards had been used fraudulently after he had entered the water. Although they arrested a man in connection with the theft of the wallet, he was never charged and was cleared of involvement in Sonny's death.

The Ferry family claimed that they had only been told about the missing wallet two months later and were able to contact the bank to check the card usage - but by this time it was too late to collect CCTV footage.

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North Yorkshire Police were later cleared of misconduct following a local resolution process involving Sonny's parents.

The force ruled out third party involvement in Sonny's death and passed the case to the coroner for North Yorkshire, who will hold a full hearing on March 30.

This is the same day the coroner will hold the inquest into the death of chef Joseph 'Joe' Rainham, who lived on Holgate Road in York and who died in the River Ouse in October 2019.

Mr Rainham's family have suggested in media interviews that foul play could have contributed to his death, speculating that he may have had his drink spiked by a person who panicked when he fell ill and dumped him in the water.

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His housemate reported him missing after he failed to return from a house party in Acomb about three weeks before his body was found, but the Rainham family say that his route home would not have taken him near the city centre.

North Yorkshire Police said there were no suspicious circumstances and the case was passed to the coroner.