Lack of guard rail blamed for elderly man’s drowning death

An elderly man used to walk to the park near his home at all times of the day and night until his death in 2023. Here’s what the coroner had to say about the park where he died.

Tassie Town Gravelly Beach, town sign

An elderly man with an intellectual disability who dedicated his time to helping Launceston charities may have fallen to his death because the trail he was walking didn’t have a guard rail, a coroner has found.

The body of 72-year-old Robert John Robinson was discovered lying face down in a creek by a dog walker at Rose Bay Park in Gravelly Beach on August 17 2023, two days after he was last seen alive.

Coroner Olivia McTaggart said the investigating officer identified several possible safety issues with the park at the location of Mr Robinson’s death including the lack of a guard rail along both sides of the creek, the footbridge rail appearing to be “significantly” lower than what is required by current safety standards and a lack of lighting on the footpath and footbridge.

Mr Robinson was known to frequently take walks around the Gravelly Beach area, including at night, since his wife’s death in 2022 impacted him greatly and he no longer enjoyed being at home.

Mr Robinson was last seen alive on one of his walks at 12.40pm on August 15 2023.

His friend and carer notified the police on the morning of August 17 when Mr Robinson had still not returned home to his granny flat.

At around 10.30am on August 17 Mr Robinson’s body was discovered face down in a creek close to a footbridge over the creek.

The police officers in attendance noted his body was lying near a concrete pipe protruding from the bank of the creek, with a small uprooted tree over his body near an unfenced gap on the embankment.

“The cause of Mr Robinson’s death was drowning following a traumatic closed head injury due to a fall down an embankment into a creek,” Ms McTaggart wrote, adding he died between 15 and 17 August 2023.

Ms McTaggart said in her report she could not determine the exact manner in which Mr Robinson’s fall occurred, but she was satisfied his death was accidental and there were no suspicious circumstances.

“The most plausible scenario is that he fell into the creek (possibly tripping on an exposed tree root) from the small section of unfenced embankment next to the footbridge,” Ms McTaggart wrote.

“At this point, it appears that Mr Robinson tried to grab onto a small tree to stop his fall but, unfortunately, this only resulted in the tree becoming uprooted and falling into the creek with him.

“It is possible that Mr Robinson struck his head upon the concrete pipe during his fall.”

She said it was also possible but less likely that Mr Robinson was standing on the concrete pipe before he fell.

Ms McTaggart recommended the West Tamar Council conduct an assessment of the safety of the footbridge and creek area of Rose Bay Park in Gravelly Beach and use the results to implement appropriate measures to enhance the safety of those using the park.

Originally published as Lack of guard rail blamed for elderly man’s drowning death