seen earlier getting into a van with three other men, an inquest heard on Friday.

And Melva Paynter, the mother of Malcolm (Cricket) Augustus, described how -- two months after her son's death in March, 1995 -- she was approached by a man who said he had seen her son involved in a late-night fight with the three men outside a social club in Angle Street, Hamilton.

The man claimed that after the fight ended, Mr. Augustus got into a light blue van with the men and drove off. The van later returned -- but without Mr.

Augustus.

Ms Paynter's evidence came on the first day of the inquest into the death of the father-of-two.

Coroner Arthur Hodgson heard that Mr. Augustus' body was pulled from Pembroke Marsh on March 7, 1995, more than a day after he was last seen by friends celebrating his birthday at Swinging Doors night club in Court Street, Hamilton.

The informant -- who was not identified in court -- said he saw two men hitting Mr. Augustus with a baseball bat. He said Mr. Augustus appeared to be drunk but still tried to defend himself.

But the man was unable to say whether Mr. Augustus got into the van on his own free will.

Ms Paynter said the man who spoke to her refused to come forward sooner because he had received threats from the men whom he saw beating her son.

She added that he believed the men were "extremely dangerous'' and had "got away'' with a murder some ten years earlier.

But ex-King Edward VII Memorial Hospital consultant pathologist Dr. John Winwick, who performed the autopsy on Mr. Augustus, told the inquest that he had ruled out foul play and logged accidental drowning as the cause of death.

He said Mr. Augustus had a small bruise on the left side of his head and a cut on his lower lip, but added he believed the injuries occurred after death.

Det. Insp. Howard Cutts said he arrived at the canal around 6 p.m. on March 7.

He said he found Mr. Augustus submerged with just his face above water. He added that Mr. Augustus had some reeds clenched in his left hand.

He said he believed Mr. Augustus fell into the canal accidentally, got stuck in the mud and could not get out. A Police search failed to turn up any signs of a struggle.

Government Analyst Alan Young, who was unable to attend the inquest, said in written evidence that Mr. Augustus had 247 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood -- more than three times the legal limit -- at the time of his death. Tests for drugs were negative.

Jermaine Wilson, a close friend of Mr. Augustus' since childhood, testified that around 11.30 p.m. on March 5 the pair, along with another friend, left their homes and went clubbing to celebrate Mr. Augustus' birthday.

He said Mr. Augustus got drunk that night and sometime between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. went missing from the club after going to use the bathroom. The hearing continues.