A FATHER of four who drowned after being swept into the River Mersey died as the result of a tragic accident, a coroner ruled.

Nathan Cooper's body has not been found following the tragedy near Woodside Ferry Terminal on June 19, but the chief coroner of England gave permission for an inquest to go ahead.

During the hearing at Gerard Majella Courthouse in Bootle this morning, coroner’s officer James Martindale said the 25-year-old from Tranmere, who was also known as 'Beano', had been out with friends the night before.

They had visited a number of pubs, drinking and taking cocaine before going back to the home of Mr Cooper's friend, John Richards, on Priory Wharf in Birkenhead early the next morning, where the four continued to drink.

The inquest heard that Nathan suggested they went out to the river's shoreline, where they sat for a while.

In a statement Nathan’s friend Leon O'Kane said Nathan had been in a very emotional state, adding that he was "full of self-loathing, saying that he was a bad father and lambasting the world.

"He got up and walked into the river saying 'what's the point of living?'."

As he walked, Nathan fell into the river and was swept along by the current and, despite frantic attempts by Leon to rescue him, disappeared under the water.

A multi-organisation search was called off after a week because they could not find Nathan, who was born in Chester.

A police investigation showed there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

Nathan and girlfriend Becky Wilson had been expecting their fourth child, who was born less than a month after the tragedy.

In a short tribute, tearful Becky told the inquest that Nathan "was just happy”.

She added: "He wouldn’t have killed himself, he was too selfish to do that because he loved life so much and was so excited about the birth of our little boy.

“He said he couldn’t wait for his fourth son to be born."

His brother Cory told the Globe at the time of the tragedy that Nathan: "was the happy go lucky type of guy and loved all sports.

"He was only 25 and he will be greatly missed by me and the rest of the family.

"Nathan was full of life, sporty and would help anyone who needed help."

Concluding that Nathan had died as the result of an accident Anita Bhardwaj, area coroner for Liverpool and Wirral said: "It is a very, very tragic set of circumstances.

"He was whisked into the current, despite valiant efforts by his friend, but was swept under and couldn’t be found.

"It's impossible to give a considered position of where the body is.

"It's more likely than not, he's inadvertently stepped in too far, been caught with the currents and been swept into the water.

“The alcohol he'd drunk made it more difficult to get out of the water.

"It's more than likely that Mr Cooper died from drowning.

"Having lost the father of your children is a difficult thing, I am not going to pretend I know how that feels.

"Sometimes we are not equipped to deal with that emotionally.

"In looking after your children, don't forget to look after yourself."