Rugby player Henry Burke who was found dead in Bath’s River Avon had just been kicked out of club after ‘trying to break up fight’
It is the 11th death on the same stretch of water in recent years
A STUDENT whose body was pulled out of a river today was thrown out of a club after trying to break up a fight, it has been reported.
Rugby player Henry Burke, 19, vanished in the early hours of Friday morning minutes after texting his girlfriend Emma Comley, 20, to say he loved her.
Earlier today police searching for the missing student pulled a body from the river Avon in historic Bath, Somerset. It is the 11th death on the same stretch of water in recent years.
His pals said he was kicked out of a club after stepping between two fighting clubbers just minutes into Friday morning.
Police were called when the second year Geography student didn't come home or turn up for work as a tour guide at Bath Abbey on Friday.
The super-fit gym fanatic's last text to his girlfriend said "I'm pissed not going to lie. I love this baby".
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CCTV stills from Zero Zero nightclub show him "leaving in a huff and puff," according to musical theatre student Emma.
But just hours after she urged locals to look for him, police confirmed firefighters had found a body in the River Avon at around midday on Saturday.
Formal identification has not yet taken place, but the police have informed Henry's family.
It is thought to be at least the 11th death in the same stretch of water since 2009 - around half of them students on nights out.
A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said: "A body has been found in the search for missing Henry Burke.
"Although formal identification has not been undertaken, we've informed Henry's family of this development.
"The body of a man was found in the River Avon in Bath by colleagues at Avon Fire & Rescue Service this morning.
"At this stage, the death is being treated as unexplained. Our enquiries are continuing."
Henry was out with people he lived with in student halls of residence the year before when he went missing just minutes into Friday morning.
Speaking before the body was found, student Emma said: "I went out in Bristol and he went out in Bath and we were texting each other throughout the night.
"I wasn't drinking at all but he was the complete opposite.
"By midnight he was completely trashed. He was texting me through the night and he could barely type.
"He's a real soppy drunk and he was saying 'I love you so much' and 'I'm so happy with us'.
"The last message he sent me said 'I'm pissed not going to lie. I love this baby' and I think he meant he loved us.
"After that my messages to him weren't delivering. The last message I got from him was 12.04. I was getting more and more frantic.
"He goes out all the time and he is really responsible. He has never not come home. It's really out of character.
"Apparently there was a scrap between two people just before he left and he tried to break that up.
"That's how we believe he got kicked out the club as it was misinterpreted.
"He was trying to stop it and it got misinterpreted and he left in a huff and a puff."
His family, including dad Paul, a sales director, mum Sarah, a teacher, and younger brothers, aged 11 and 17, had come from Milton Keynes to Bath to help find him.
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