Angler drowned 'searching for Llandudno fishing spot'
- Published
An angler drowned after falling into the sea while looking for a good fishing spot, an inquest heard.
Lukasz Lesniacki's friend Bartosz Jawor waded in to try and rescue the 30-year-old in Llandudno, but was quickly exhausted by the cold.
Mr Lesniacki was airlifted to Ysbyty Gwynedd hospital in Bangor but he had suffered a serious head injury and died despite efforts to resuscitate him.
The friends had gone to the seaside resort on 20 May from Birmingham.
They made the trip after various customers of Mr Lesniacki's fishing shop, UK-Lures, told him it was a good place to fish.
They arrived at 07:30 BST and, leaving their equipment in the car near the Great Orme headland, climbed over a fence to look for a good spot.
In a statement read at the hearing in Ruthin, Mr Jawor said the sea was calm and his friend found a spot on the rocks in an area known as Pigeon Cove.
'Quickly exhausted'
"It was quite slippery and Lucasz tried to slide lower down to get nearer the sea," he said.
He then heard a noise and saw his friend falling into the water.
Mr Jawor shouted for help and tried to reach his friend as a passer-by called the emergency services.
"I am a reasonable swimmer but the water was cold and I quickly became exhausted," he said.
The crew of Llandudno Lifeboat rescued Mr Lesniacki.
"I wish I had been able to get into the water sooner," Mr Jawor said.
A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as drowning, with a head injury as a contributory cause.
Joanne Lees, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central, recorded a conclusion of accidental death.