A HEREFORDSHIRE man died while making sure his goldfish survived a freezing February night, an inquest heard this week.

Ronald Boyd Lewis, aged 88, from Llangrove was 'passionate' about his fish and would often check on them and put a ball in their pond on icy evenings.

Mr Lewis was found fully clothed including his slippers, lying half in his fish-pond by his niece, Sara Phillips on the morning of February 5 2003.

Pathologist Dr Frank McGinty confirmed that Mr Lewis had drowned.

Dr McGinty said: "He had both heart disease and lung disease in combination would have been enough to make him unsteady."

Mr Lewis also suffered with high blood pressure and had an oxygen supply installed at home after a recent spell in hospital.

Joanne Phillips, Mr Lewis' other niece by marriage, had checked on him the night before and made him a cup of tea and some sandwiches.

"He was passionate about his fish pond," she said.

Coroner, David Halpern confirmed that Mr Lewis had died from drowning with a contributing cause of hypertension and lung disease.

"It is a sad way for Mr Lewis to die at his age. At least he died trying to look after the fish that gave him some enjoyment in life," Mr Halpern said.

Accident

"He had some fish in the pond. It seems that they were something that gave him some pleasure and some meaning in life and it seems that he had a habit of going down there in bad weather and seeing that the fish were alright," he continued.

Mr Halpern recorded a verdict of accidental death.