A young motorist drowned when his car plunged into a harbour after he is thought to have tried to jump a gap in a quay wall during a drunken stunt.

Farm worker Jamie Hocking, 20, from Helston in Cornwall, had been on a drinking session with colleagues when he drove his Rover car off the pier at Porthleven harbour, an inquest heard.

He had earlier told friends he was going to attempt to make the jump over the water in his car from one side of the harbour to the other but he ended up driving to his death off the edge of the pier.

Mr Hocking, who worked at Methleigh Farm in Porthleven, was later found to have been twice over the legal drink driving limit in a toxicology report following his death.

Witnesses said they saw Jamie rev his car against a chain preventing access to the harbourside in the moments before his fatal plunge, which came just a week before Christmas.

Others told the inquest at Truro City Hall how Jamie had regularly told them he would one day attempt to drive off the pier at one side of the harbour, over the water, before landing on the other side – a distance of about 6-9m (20-30ft).

Giving evidence at the hearing, police officers said it would have been impossible for the 20-year-old to have successfully completed the stunt.

WEB Site: http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/news/Farm-worker-s-drunken-stunt-harbour-pier-ended-tragedy/article-2553877-detail/article.html

Submitted on 08/21/2010

Submitted by: Nigel Karslake
Reference: Western Morning News (UK) 21-Aug-10

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James said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
As common as drunk driving is, this fellow seemed determined to pull this off BEFORE he was drunk! He seemed happy the whole time, so suicide is probably not the issue here. I will let my fellow mods decide if this is different enough to be included!

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
When someone's obviously been planning such idiocy for a while, being drunk is incidental to the event. Thanks, Nigel!

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