Dad-of-three drowned in swimming pool during James Bond-themed orgy at £3m mansion
Edmund Echukwu entered the pool at the private house with the woman after drinking from a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey
A MALE social worker attending his first swingers' party drowned after going into a swimming pool with a woman he had been dancing with shortly before.
Dad-of-three Edmund Echukwu, 35, entered the pool at the private house with the woman after drinking from a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey.
Today, an inquest into his death heard that, as he and the woman moved into deeper water, he suddenly grabbed her around the neck as she swam beside him.
The woman said that at first she thought it was just horseplay and she wriggled free.
But the inquest was told that the single dad went under the water and didn't come up again.
At the inquest in Hatfield, Herts., the senior coroner for the county Geoffrey Sullivan heard that there was some doubt as to whether Mr Echukwu, who was born in Nigeria and who lived in Springwood, Edgware, Middlesex, could swim or not.
The court was told how, on the evening of Friday March 27 last year, he attended a James Bond themed sex party at a private £3M eight bedroomed detached property in Radlett, Hertfordshire.
The party featured 007 references, including a roulette wheel, a woman covered in gold paint - inspired by the film Goldfinger - and chocolate replicas of the weapon from the film The Man with the Golden Gun.
Adult themed parties were regularly held at the house by Richard Stanley, 66, and his partner Janet Harrison.
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In her statement, which was read to the court, Janet Harrison said she and Mr Stanley had been organising swingers' parties at the property, with its gated entrance and situated in three acres of land, for 19 years.
She said the parties, held once a month, were "for people to meet, socialise and experiment."
She said guests attending the event would bring their own alcohol and contribute an amount of money of their own choice to pay for the food that she and Mr Stanley would provide.
Ms Harrison said she had spoken to Mr Echukwu earlier in the day on the phone, when he had rung to enquire about the party night.
She said he appeared to be slurring his words and he appeared to be "shy" and not very confident.
She said he told her he wanted to "try new things and make new friends," adding that he sounded sad and lonely.
Later in the day, Mr Echukwu watched an England football match on television with his friend Anthony Okankwo.
After the game, he told his friend he was going to evening mass at their local church but, in fact, attended the sex party.
Sobbing, as she gave her evidence, the witness said she thought she had arrived at Little Croft between 10 and 10.30pm on the Friday night.
"I normally get there about 10 o'clock. I have some food and then I go and have a dance on the dance floor, and go to the pool and would normally be there by about 11 o'clock. Because he was there, I did have a dance with him."
She said she thought she was dancing with Mr Echukwu between 11pm that night and midnight.
"I don't think I even knew his name. I don't remember it. He was really polite. He didn't talk on the dance floor and I don't remember him being drunk."
She said she thought she could smell alcohol on him and he was drinking from a small bottle of Jack Daniels, which he had brought to the party.
She said she had the last few drops from the bottle after asking him to mix the spirit with some coke.
"I said 'I am going to the pool, do you want to come with me?'" and she said when he told her he didn't have a towel, she took him to a room in the house where he could get one.
She then said they went to her car, which was parked outside the property, to get a bag containing her swimming costume, towel and robe.
She said she got into the covered pool, which was set in the grounds of the house and, because she was not a strong swimmer, had two tube floats under her arms.
"He was swimming with me. It gets deeper really quickly. We went past the halfway, where it was beginning to get deep."
She said Mr Echukwu didn't have a float and she said that before getting in, she had asked him if he could swim.
The witness said he replied that he would go with one of his children and she took it to mean he was a regular swimmer.
She sobbed as she then told the court "He was by my side and this part of the pool is very deep. I couldn't touch the bottom. He just grabbed my neck like that and pulled me under the water. I had to push him away because I feared he would drown me and pull me under."
She said she managed to wriggle free and swam to the side of the pool.
When she looked back, she said she could see one of his hands sticking out of the water, but his head and body were submerged.
She said "I still thought he was playing a game."
The witness added that a man behind her, who was standing outside the pool, then commented that he had been under water "too long."
She said she couldn't swim very well and didn't feel confident enough to swim out to him to help.
With that, she said people left the pool house to go and get help and, minutes later, Mr Stanley appeared and dived into the water to bring Mr Echukwu to the surface.
With the help of other guests, he was removed from the water.
In his statement, which was read to the court, Mr Stanley said that when they got Mr Echukwu out of the water, it was clear he wasn't moving.
He said he and others began CPR and he made a 999 call to the emergency services, who gave him instructions over the phone.
The inquest was told that paramedics arrived at the house and continued to try and save the man.
He was rushed to Watford General Hospital by ambulance, where he was pronounced dead shortly before 1.40am on the morning of Saturday 28 March 2015.
Detective Constable Robert Wood told the court that when police arrived at the house, a number of guests still present hadn't provided correct phone numbers or addresses so that they could be spoken to later.
However, he was satisfied that Mr Echukwu's death was "non suspicious" with no third party involvement.
The officer said that following his death, information had been received from the dead man's family that he couldn't swim.
The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death, giving the cause of death as immersion and minor alcohol intoxication.
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