Former Harrow schoolboy, 25, died diving into water after heavy drinking session
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A former Harrow schoolboy tragically died after diving from a boat into water following a drinking session. Henry Keith, 25, was a strong swimmer but sadly drowned in the Norfolk Broads on August 16 last year after a late-night dip with an old school friend. Mr Keith, who attended £61,500-a-year Harrow School in north-west London, may have banged his head while going into the water at Wroxham Broad at around 11.30pm, a coroner concluded.
An inquest into his death heard how Mr Keith and his friend Sebastian Cator spent the day together shooting, and had begun drinking at around 3.30pm at the Swan Inn pub in Horning before heading to Mr Cator’s family home nearby. They headed out on Mr Cator's boat to listen to music and had consumed five bottles of Becks lager each, as well as a bottle of rose and a bottle of white wine at dinner, then vodka and ginger beers on the boat. A post-mortem examination found Mr Keith had 185mgs of alcohol per 100ml of blood , more than twice the legal limit to drive.
Mr Keith decided to undress and enter the water headfirst but failed to resurface. Mr Cator said: "My immediate reaction was that he was trying to play a prank on me. I walked around either edge of the boat and could not find him. That was when I realised he was not playing a joke and began to panic.".
