A student accidentally drowned in a flooded Oxford park after telling his girlfriend that a man had tried to rape him, an inquest heard.

Fintan Jack Feltham, 18, phoned his girlfriend Molly in the early hours of November 27 saying he had been in a nightclub with friends and was attacked, losing his glasses.

Nothing more was heard from Mr Feltham and his body was found near Grandpont Recreation Park on December 3.

At the inquest on Thursday the coroner said flooding, intoxication and losing his glasses had played a part in the University of Reading student’s death.

His girlfriend told the inquest Mr Feltham – who had been studying War, Peace and International Relations – had told her he lost his glasses during the attack by an unidentified man.

Mr Feltham had been in Oxford for army cadet training.

He had gone on a night out with friends from the cadet school at Falklands House, during which they all wore revealing clothing including dresses.

After drinking at the cadet bar and The Swan and Castle pub, they went to Plush, an LGBT+ nightclub, just after midnight.

Fintan Jack Feltham had been in Oxford for army cadet training and went out drinking with friends, ending up in Plush nightclub

Mr Feltham was thrown out of the club at around 2.30am for intoxication and the inquest heard there were ‘missed opportunities’ at Plush as he became more intoxicated.

Alexander Bloomfield, Thames Valley Police civil alcohol licensing officer, added he was satisfied with Mr Feltham being allowed into the nightclub but said greater measures could have been taken to ensure he was kept safe.

His post-mortem found he was two and a half times over the legal driving limit.

Mr Feltham’s group had planned to take the last train back to Reading but he was seen on CCTV as he ‘staggered’ down St Aldates, Abingdon Road and Whitehouse Road.

He called his girlfriend multiple times during this walk and she rang him back at 2.34am.

They had several conversations over the next hour, with the final call beginning at 3.20am and cutting out ten minutes later, likely because he ran out of battery.

Molly told the inquest: ‘He said some guy tried to rape him. He said the guy was a b******. That is when he said he lost his glasses.’

She added: ‘He kept saying he was really cold and scared… I have never heard him be like that before.’

Mr Feltham was seen ‘staggering’ down Oxford streets before he lost contact with his girlfriend

But police said they found no evidence of the assault, though there was no CCTV available for around eight minutes while he walked through the town so an attack was ‘possible’ during this time.

Mr Feltham’s last sighting on camera was on Whitehouse Road at 3.31am, with ‘no direct evidence’ of the route he took afterwards.

Molly phoned police just before 4am and it was logged as a concern for welfare.

Police went to Mr Feltham’s last location on Snapchat maps 48 minutes later and checked his Reading accommodation, taxi ranks, the train station and hospitals.

Only at 11.53am the next morning was he identified as a high risk missing person and despite searches of the area he was found by a member of the public in the flooded field.

A later review found police missed a sighting of Mr Feltham’s body on a drone camera.

Thames Valley Police said it carried out a ‘thorough investigation’ which identified some learning points but ‘found nothing that impacted the effectiveness of the initial response or the sad outcome in this case’.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it received a request to review the handling of a complaint by Thames Valley Police relating to the force’s investigation into Fintan’s death.

In September 2025, it found the outcome of the complaint was ‘not reasonable and proportionate’ and the review was upheld.

The IOPC is currently investigating a further request to review the force’s handling of its reinvestigation.

The force told The Sun it was unable to comment on the ongoing complaint.

Mr Feltham’s dad described his son as an ‘intelligent, well-loved and energetic individual who was well respected by his peers’.

He said: ‘His loss has not just been felt by his family and friends, but anyone who has spent a mere moment with him.

‘We cannot get Fintan back, but we hope today lessons will be learned, changes will be made and Fintan will leave behind a legacy that we hope will prevent future deaths.’

He added: ‘Fintan was an amazing person with a fantastic future ahead and he achieved so much in his 18 years with us.’