A CORONER has concluded a man who drowned in the canal at Ashwood, near Wordsley, took his own life.

David Atkiss, a retired factory worker of Myles Court, John Street, Brierley Hill, was found submerged in the water in a country park on Sunday June 21 and was rescued from the water by West Midlands Fire Service and taken to hospital by ambulance, with medics continuing CPR onboard.

The 68-year-old divorcee was taken to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley but despite treatment and resuscitation efforts in the emergency department he passed away a short time later, Black Country Coroner’s Court was told.