Fifty-seven-year-old Robert Brown suffered acute blood loss from a fatal arm wound in a tragic accident on a bench next to the River Nene and his death has been ruled accidental, an inquest heard.

Mr Brown was found dead by the River Nene, behind Auctioneers Court, at around 6.30am on August 1, 2025 and a murder investigation was launched by Northamptonshire Police.

Mr Brown’s inquest was opened on October 1, 2025 and a post-mortem examination gave the provisional cause of death as severe blood loss from a wound to his left upper arm, made worse by heart disease and alcohol intoxication.

Northamptonshire Police dropped the murder investigation in February 2026 and officers concluded that the injury sustained is “likely to have been unintentionally self-inflicted”.

Robert Brown was found dead by the River Nene, behind Auctioneers Court, at around 6.30am on August 1, 2025 and his death has been ruled as accidental at an inquest.

placeholder image — Robert Brown was found dead by the River Nene, behind Auctioneers Court, at around 6.30am on August 1, 2025 and his death has been ruled as accidental at an inquest.

After many appeals for witnesses, several searches of the River Nene and the arrest of three men who were released with no further action, Northants Police reached a non-suspicious conclusion following receipt of all forensic analysis.

Victim ‘most likely’ to have fallen asleep and put his weight onto bag containing knife

Senior coroner Anne Pember resumed Mr Brown’s inquest on Thursday June 25 and concluded with her view that this was a “tragic accident”. The 57-year-old suffered acute blood loss from a wound to his left upper arm, in what has been ruled as “accidental death”, the inquest heard.

Mr Brown experienced alcohol dependence issues and was more susceptible to acute blood loss. The pathologist believed his underlying ischemic heart disease and alcohol intoxication were contributing factors.

Senior coroner Anne Pember resumed Mr Brown’s inquest on Thursday (June 25) and concluded with her view that the 57-year-old's death was a “tragic accident”.

A knife was found in Mr Brown’s backpack, which the inquest heard was a single-edged blade of 13 centimetres in length and a maximum of two centimetres in width, which would have been physically capable of causing the injury.

The inquest then heard that Mr Brown was diagnosed with alcohol dependence in 1992 and alcohol dependence syndrome five years later in 1997.

A statement was read out from the first person to discover Mr Brown’s body, who was cycling home after finishing a night shift. He could see blood trickling through the holes in the bench and around the left tricep at the back of Mr Brown’s arm, as well as a rip in his coat.

Detective Chief Inspector Torie Harrison’s report was the last evidence to be given, and the inquest heard that the police initially thought Mr Brown had been killed by a third party and the weapon had not been located, or it was accidental death or self-harm.

The inquest heard that Mr Brown had suffered a slash from a blade and the coat he was wearing had corresponding damage. There was no blood on the knife, but fibres from all three layers of his jacket.

The report said the findings support that the knife caused the damage to the left sleeve of the jacket, and that it was the victim’s own knife. The knife had fatty, greasy staining on it, which had a high quantity of the victim’s DNA, the inquest heard.

The police believe there was no motive for anyone to murder Robert and it is DCI Harrison’s view that this was a “tragic accidental death”. The inquest heard the most likely sequence of events is that Robert had the knife in close proximity and may have fallen into a deep sleep, putting his weight onto the bag.

The knife subsequently penetrated the bag, all three layers of Mr Brown’s coat and the victim, and DI Harrison believes that as soon as Mr Brown felt the blade, it was removed.

This concluded the evidence before Ms Pember ruled Mr Brown’s accidental death.