The use of methylamphetamine and the lack of a life jacket ultimately led to the New Year’s death of a Tasmanian man two years ago, a coroner has ruled.
Andrew John Donohue, 49, died from saltwater drowning on December 30, 2022, after he went missing in the Bass Strait while kayaking off the coast of Robbins Island in the north-west.
According to Coroner Simon Cooper, Donohue was a strong swimmer and had reportedly started using drugs in 2011.
In the lead-up to the incident, Donohue was on a camping trip to Perkins Island between Smithton and Robbins Island with friends.
Cooper said that Donohue went kayaking around 7:30pm, half an hour after high tide, leaving his life jacket and phone behind.
When he did not return after about 30 minutes, his friends walked to the beach to look for him.
Emergency services were contacted two hours later and began a search and rescue operation, which found the kayak on nearby Montagu Island with waders attached and the propeller of the electric motor tangled in fishing line the following morning.
Donohue’s body was found the next day, January 1, 2023, on the south-west corner of Robbins Island.
“I have little doubt that had Mr Donohue been wearing a PFD then he would not have died,” Cooper said.
“Similarly, the presence of methylamphetamine in his system cannot have enhanced his prospects of survival once he entered the water.”
The coroner noted that a personal EPIRB or one fitted to the kayak could have significantly increased his chances of survival.
“I am satisfied that the response of emergency services was timely and professional,” he said.
“I consider that it is likely that Mr Donohue died within a relatively short time of having entered the water on 30 December 2022.”
