Former England rugby star Tom Voyce was nearly three times over drink-drive limit, inquest told
Blood alcohol level reported at 215 micrograms per 100 millilitres of blood; death linked to drowning during Storm Darragh, not alcohol impairment, according to inquest findings.
A former England rugby international was nearly three times over the drink-drive limit when his vehicle was swept away in a river during Storm Darragh, an inquest has heard. The 43-year-old Tom Voyce, who retired from rugby in 2013, had been on a shoot at Glanton near Alnwick in Northumberland on 7 December before going to the Queens Head pub with a group. His wife Anna reported him missing the next morning when he did not return home.
Pathologist Clive Bloxham said Voyce's blood-alcohol level—215 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood—would have impaired judgement and coordination, but was not a causal factor in his death. Investigators said Voyce's vehicle was thought to have been swept away while he attempted to drive across a ford during Storm Darragh. His body was found on 12 December in deep water at Old Abberwick Mill by a member of UK Search and Rescue.
Voyce, from Truro in Cornwall, retired from professional rugby in 2013 and had been living in Alnwick since 2019. He earned nine England caps and made 220 Premiership appearances, playing for Wasps, Bath and Gloucester before retiring. After leaving his role at Investec, he started his own business, Trevow Vegetation Management, in Northumberland.
The inquest at County Hall in Morpeth continues as investigators review the circumstances surrounding Voyce's death.
