{"id":955356,"date":"2026-05-12T18:38:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T18:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/955356\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T18:38:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T18:38:18","slug":"we-will-continue-to-fight-family-of-officer-who-drowned-in-bristol-call-for-safer-harbour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/955356\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We will continue to fight’: Family of officer who drowned in Bristol call for safer harbour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Family members of a police officer who drowned when he fell into Bristol<\/a> harbour say they’ll never stop fighting for improved safety measures. <\/p>\n

Pc Rehaan Akhtar, 28, had been drinking with friends in Bristol and was last seen in the early hours of November 23 last year.<\/p>\n

During an inquest into his death, Avon Coroner\u2019s Court heard Mr Akhtar did not return to the youth hostel where he was staying and was reported missing.<\/p>\n

His body was recovered by divers from Bristol harbourside on the morning of November 24.<\/p>\n

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Akhtar\u2019s sisters, Meena and Rabia Najmi, said they did not want another family to suffer the same tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is quite disappointing to hear that there\u2019s going to be no kind of drastic safety measures put in place to prevent it happening in future,\u201d Meena Najmi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing to say it\u2019s not going to happen again. We are just confused as to how many more times it\u2019s got to happen before safety measures are put in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Swansea Marina there was a lot of deaths with people falling into the water. It\u2019s quite a busy area with a lot of pubs, bars and clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce the railings were introduced it stopped. We have not had that kind of issue there since and I think if Bristol were to take that on board, it could prevent this happening in future.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe will continue to push, we will continue to fight, to try and push for some safety measures because we don\u2019t want any other families to have to go through what we\u2019ve been through.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could have been avoided if the right safety measures were in place, in our opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inquest heard that on the day he disappeared Mr Akhat had started drinking with friends in the afternoon and the group had carried on until after midnight, <\/p>\n

In a written statement, one of his friends on the trip – Corey Griffiths – said they all drunk around eight pints of lager, two cocktails and a Jagerbomb during visits to several pubs and bars in Bristol.<\/p>\n

At the end of the evening, Mr Griffiths said that while three of their friends remained out to get some food, he and Mr Akhtar returned to where they were staying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI walked over the bridge with Rehaan and I remember talking and being on my phone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t remember what I was doing on my phone. Then I next recall being inside the hostel trying to get the key for the room as we only had one key between the three of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought in the morning that Rehaan had been with me when I checked in, but clearly that wasn\u2019t correct.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of how Rehaan was presenting, we had all been drinking all day, and I was the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cRehaan was drunk but there was not a particular moment I noticed him suddenly become more drunk or anything like that. He appeared the same as the rest of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

A post-mortem examination found Mr Akhtar had drowned.<\/p>\n

Toxicology tests show that he had a blood alcohol reading of 260mg per 100ml of blood \u2013 meaning he was the equivalent of three times the drink-drive limit.<\/p>\n

Pathologist Dr Karin Denton said the level of alcohol Mr Akhtar had consumed would have likely affected his speech and ability to walk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is therefore likely that intoxication contributed to the fall into the water of the harbour,\u201d she said in her report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe water is very cold at that time of year.\u201d<\/p>\n

A police investigation found no third party involvement in his death.<\/p>\n

PC Reehan Akhtar, 28, from Llanelli was on a night out with friends in Bristol before he died. Credit: South Wales Police<\/p>\n

Officers had recovered CCTV evidence showing someone matching the description of Mr Akhtar \u201cfall into the river from the jetty dock in front of the Arnolfini (arts centre)\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dr Peter Harrowing, area coroner for Avon, recorded a conclusion of accidental death.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard evidence that he was in Bristol with friends, visited various establishments and was consuming alcohol for a number of hours that day,\u201d the coroner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went to return to his accommodation, but for some reason \u2013 perhaps becoming disorientated \u2013 he then sadly falls into the water drowning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coroner did not make a prevention of future deaths report after hearing evidence from the Bristol harbour master about ongoing improvements to water safety.<\/p>\n

David Lockwood told the court that the harbour was regularly inspected and there had been improvements to signage, rescue equipment and re-routing a cycle path.<\/p>\n

\u201cA blanket solution, for example fencing the whole estate, is not recommended as an acceptable or practical control method,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork is ongoing to provide and maintain aids to those who fall into the water, such as grab chains and ladders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city remains committed to doing everything reasonably practicable to enhance safety, informed by evidence, partnership working and findings and formal investigations when available.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Akhtar, from Llanelli, was a constable with South Wales Police. He first joined the force as a police community support officer (PCSO).<\/p>\n

He was a PCSO in Cardiff from October 2021 and became a Pc based in Swansea in September 2023.<\/p>\n

Following the inquest, Councillor Andrew Brown, Chair of the Harbour Committee said: \u201cMy sincere condolences go out to the families and friends affected by the tragic death of PC Akhtar.<\/p>\n

“Entering the open water of Bristol\u2019s harbour and other waterways presents significant risks. I urge everyone to stay away from the water\u2019s edge, particularly if you have been drinking or are alone, and to look out for each other.”<\/p>\n

He added: “There are several safety features already in place around the harbour including life rings, throw lines, frequent emergency access points and signs warning of the water hazards. <\/p>\n

“We will continue to work closely with Bristol Business Improvement District (BID) and emergency services to raise awareness of the risks around open water and to help keep people safe across the city centre.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Family members of a police officer who drowned when he fell into Bristol harbour say they’ll never stop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":955357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-955356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116563063866212466","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=955356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/955357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=955356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=955356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=955356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}