Open verdict recorded after death of Irishman who went unidentified for years

40-year-old County Wicklow man was found by fishermen in 2013

*A warning that this story contains information which some readers may find upsetting.

An open verdict has been recorded at the inquest of an Irishman whose body was recovered from Manx waters more than a decade ago.

John Joseph Roche was recovered by fishermen on 12 April 2013 – he’d gone missing from his home in the Republic of Ireland, in December, the year before.

The fishing vessel – The Anzac – had been dredging the seabed off the coast of Ramsey, when it located the body of a man who was wearing brown shoes.

Due to decomposition, the identity of the individual couldn’t be determined, and the body was buried in Lonan in 2014 following a small service organised by the Manx community.

DNA

However, DNA evidence collected years later identified the man as Mr Roche, a 40-year-old from County Wicklow, and at Douglas Courthouse today (11 January) his inquest was formally concluded.

The court heard samples taken from Mr Roche’s son and brother in 2019, sparked by a TV appeal about missing people, had matched with those taken during his postmortem.

Evidence from Mr Roche’s family, who’d seen him before he disappeared in 2012, was also read to the court.

His former partner, who saw him on 19 December, said his alcohol intake had affected his mental health adding: “I knew something was wrong with him.”

Mr Roche’s sister described how he’d seemed ‘very quiet’ on that day adding she’d begun to ‘panic’ when she couldn’t get in touch with her brother despite plans to see him.

After searching the local pubs for him she reported him missing to the police.

The court also heard Mr Roche, who was unemployed at the time, had been seen walking towards the quayside, on 20 December, looking well-dressed and in no distress. 

Open Verdict

Coroner of Inquests James Brooks said Mr Roche, who had no links to the Isle of Man, had left his phone and wallet at home on 20 December 2012 and had not left a note.

Ruling out suicide, or accidental death, he acknowledged that the Irishman’s behaviour had been ‘somewhat out of the ordinary’ but said he’d been making plans for the immediate future.

He determined that Mr Roche had entered the water at the quayside in the late afternoon, or evening, on that day and had died, as a result, in the territorial waters of the Republic of Ireland.

“There’s no way John could have survived long in the water,” he added.

However Coroner Brooks said he had no evidence about what had taken place between Mr Roche entering the water and his body being recovered and, as such, the cause of his death was unascertainable.

Recording an open verdict he offered his condolences to Mr Roche’s family, who’d travelled to the Island for the hearing, adding the DNA evidence had made it a ‘very interesting matter to deal with’.

Mr Roche’s body was exhumed from the grave he was buried in on the Island and returned to Ireland before Christmas, which a family member told the coroner had brought some ‘closure’.

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this story there are details of local organisations that provide advice and support HERE.