A young man who tragically drowned in a flooded park confided in his girlfriend about a frightening encounter with a potential assailant shortly before his disappearance, as revealed during an official inquiry.
Fintan Jack Feltham, 18, had been out with friends and contacted his partner Molly during the early hours of November 27, 2024. He disclosed to her that he had been the target of an attempted assault before going missing. Sadly, his lifeless body was discovered near Grandpont Nature Park in Oxfordshire on December 3.
Before the incident, Fintan had traveled from his university accommodation in Reading to Oxford for army cadet training. He socialized with friends at the cadet bar and later visited the Swan and Castle pub in the city center around 11 pm. Subsequently, the group headed to the LGBTQ+ nightclub Plush at approximately 12:15 am, where Fintan continued to consume alcohol.
Due to his intoxicated state, Fintan was ejected from the venue shortly before 2:30 am. Surveillance footage captured him “staggering” through the city, with one image showing him engaged in a phone conversation. Records indicated that Fintan made multiple calls to Molly, with their final interaction occurring at 3:20 am before his phone battery depleted.
During their conversation, Molly recounted Fintan’s distress, mentioning that he claimed to have been a target of a sexual assault attempt and expressed fear and discomfort, behaviors she had never observed in him before.
Although the possibility of an attack was acknowledged by Detective Constable Enya Lyons, no concrete evidence was found to support such a claim in Fintan’s case. The last sighting of Fintan on CCTV occurred at Whitehouse Road at 3:31 am before he vanished. Molly raised concerns for his welfare to the police, leading to a search operation that concluded with the discovery of Fintan’s body in a flooded area by a member of the public.
A subsequent review by Thames Valley Police highlighted shortcomings in identifying Fintan as a missing person promptly, though it was deemed unlikely to have altered the tragic outcome. The review also noted a missed opportunity to locate Fintan’s body using a drone camera.
A review of the Plush nightclub’s operations revealed oversights in monitoring Fintan’s condition earlier in the evening. The cause of Fintan’s death was determined to be drowning, with the coroner attributing his demise to factors such as intoxication, impaired vision due to the absence of his glasses, and unfamiliarity with the surroundings.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is currently investigating a request to reassess Thames Valley Police’s reinvestigation into the case. The police force defended its thorough investigative efforts, asserting that the outcome was not affected by any shortcomings in the initial response. They declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
Fintan was eulogized by his father as an “intelligent” and “well-loved” individual who had a positive impact on those around him. His father expressed a desire for lessons to be learned from Fintan’s tragedy, leading to necessary changes that could potentially prevent similar incidents in the future.