A 17-year-old student from Brent Knoll, near Burnham-On-Sea, drowned after falling from a coastal path in Greece, an inquest heard this week.
Taunton Coroner’s Court was told how a barman battled to save Catrine Basil, 17, after spotting her body floating in the sea while returning from a night out in Paros (pictured) in July 2003.
A post-mortem examination revealed Ms Basil had died as a result of drowning in salt water. On the night of the incident, she had gone to a club with her cousin and best friend where they danced and downed strong drinks.
They met up with two barmen at a nightspot and her two friends “paired off” with them. Catrine had walked home alone, the inquest heard.
Both girls told the hearing they had assumed the other had walked Catrine back to her villa. One of the barmen – Dwayne Reece – walked back along the footpath after taking the best friend home when he spotted Catrine’s body floating in the water.
In a statement read out to the court, he said: “I saw this undistinguishable shape in the water. I recognised it was a human body. The head to chest was in water and the rest was on the rocky shore. I turned her over and I recognised it was the deceased.”
Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Michael Rose said it had been a “tragedy”.
