Data from stolen phone revealed last moments of 26-year-old man prior to his death

A man who was found dead in the River Tame two weeks after going missing died accidentally, a coroner has ruled. Keano Byrne went missing on March 26 2023 after attending a party.

South Manchester Coroner's Court heard that Keano had left the party with a friend, Tony Edge, in the early hours of the morning when it was still dark. The pair had walked through the Reddish area, appearing in good spirits together, before Keano's disappearance.

Police drone footage showed just how dark it would have been in the early hours of the morning when Keano went missing. GMP Detective Chief Inspector Elizabeth Hopkinson told the court: "The lighting was non existent."

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Evidence from pathologist Dr Charles Wilson gave the court a provisional cause of death of drowning. Dr Wilson told the court that he had not found any indication on Keano's body that he had been attacked or sustained any significant injury prior to his death.

The inquest heard that the occupant of a campervan parked in a secluded area had reported two people breaking into the vehicle while he was sleeping and threatening him before stealing an iPhone 14 smartphone in a blue case. This incident subsequently became connected to investigations into Keano's death when the stolen phone was found in his jacket pocket when his body was recovered.

Coroner Alison Mutch said: "The phone that belonged to the man in the campervan was found in the pocket of Keano's jacket. The data off a phone allows you to track him almost step by step, it's quite scary when you think about it as we carry our phones everywhere."

She added: "This robbery of the gentleman in the campervan was a violent robbery."

Police explained that they believed that three people had been involved in the alleged robbery, which did not see anyone prosecuted. Investigators were able to use data retrieved from the smartphone to track what the court found to be Keano's final movements.

A police officer had happened to arrive at the scene where the alleged robbery took place and saw two people. However, evidence found in the campervan led police to think there may have been a third person.

DCI Hopkinson told the court: "We can't say for certain that three people were involved in the robbery, the police officer saw two people. He heard glass, which was what made him turn.

"If there had been three, it's my thought that I would think that Mr Byrne was the person outside the campervan. When someone steals a mobile phone it's a lot easier and more common to pass it on to somebody else.

She added: "I think that when the police vehicle comes into the car park somebody, one person, leaves very quickly, not two people. I think that's likely.

"There was a training shoe in the campervan that didn't belong to Keano Byrne and it didn't belong to Tony Edge. I think believe that Tony Edge changed his shoes, we believe that there was somebody else."

When the phone was recovered it was found to have cut out on March 26. The data from the phone showed how far Keano had travelled after coming into possession of the phone at around 5.13am.

"The distance [that phone travelled before cutting out] is approximately half a mile, and that took six minutes to achieve," DCI Hopkinson told the court. "The phone goes dead at 5.19am and I think it's fair to say the phone went dead because of entering the water."

She added: "To travel half a mile in six minutes is a 12 minute mile, and that's a good jogging pace. To do it in the dark is quite exceptional."

DCI Hopkinson also described the riverbank near to where Keano was found as being steep. In the end, coroner Alison Mutch concluded that Keano had been running through the woods in the pitch black, becoming disoriented and falling into the river by accident.

Keano, 26, had been on licence from prison. He had just become a father.

His sister Chantelle told the court that Keano had been doing well on his licence, saying: "He was very positive in himself. He was always showing change, especially when he found out he became a dad.

"She was his everything. He wanted to be a dad to his little girl, he never got the chance to."

Reaching her conclusion, coroner Alison Mutch said: "I am satisfied from all of the evidence, particularly the drone footage from the night and the day footage, that Keano has been running through that particular area when it's been dark, slippery under foot, and probably quite disoriented because even though he knew the area, to know an area in the daylight and to know it at night are two different things.

"Very sadly, he had lost sight of the fact that the river bank is quite steep and he has lost is footage, and he has entered the River Tame. Entering a river that is fast flowing in darkness is a very difficult situation to extricate yourself from.

"On the balance of the evidence before me he has drowned in the river after entering it accidentally. On April 7 his body was recovered from the river in the Reddish Vale area by police officers.

"A post mortem examination established he had probably died from drowning. An investigation found that he had fallen into the river. I am going to record that his death was an accidental death."