A MUSIC fan had been in a happy and contented mood the night before he died in a tragic accident after falling into an Oxford stream.

Matthew Jones, of North Hinksey Lane, had been at a pub quiz and nightclub in the city on November 7, but was reported missing when he failed to return home.

His body was pulled from the Bullstake Stream in West Oxford on November 9.

The 22-year-old, who worked at the Co-op store in Summertown, was last seen by childhood friend Robert Taylor as they walked home from the Wahoo bar in Hythe Bridge Street between 1am and 2am.

In a statement read to an inquest at Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court in Old County Hall yesterday, Mr Jones’s mother, Helen Wardle-Jones, said she last saw her son at 6.45pm on Sunday, November 7, when she gave him a lift to the Gloucester Arms in Oxford.

She said: “When I dropped him off he was in a happy and contented mood.”

When she woke at 6am the next day, Mrs Wardle-Jones noticed her son had not returned. He was later reported missing by his sister Charlotte when he failed to turn up for work at 1pm.

A police search and rescue team pulled the former Matthew Arnold School pupil’s body from the stream off Willow Walk at about 2pm the following day.

Mr Taylor told the hearing he met Mr Jones, a fan of heavy metal music, at the Gloucester Arms before going to the Wahoo bar.

He said: “I met him sometime around 10pm to 11pm. He had probably been drinking since whenever he got there.”

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner asked him: “Was [the effect of the alcohol] beginning to show?”

“Yes it was,” replied Mr Taylor, “but it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence.”

He told the inquest he said goodbye to Mr Jones in West Oxford as the pair walked towards their own homes.

He said: “He was drunk but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.”

Pathologist Dr Ben Phillips said Mr Jones had “a very high blood-alcohol level and urine-alcohol level, which indicated it was probably previously higher in his blood”.

He said there were no external injuries or underlying diseases and concluded: “The cause of death was drowning, and given that the high level of alcohol would have caused high levels of intoxication, it could have contributed to the death.”

Mr Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He said: “I can only assume the obvious that Matthew Jones was walking home along his accustomed route when he slipped, missed his footing and fell into the river.

“He had clearly been drinking a large amount which would account not only for his falling in (but also) his inability to recover himself quickly.”