Sydney man dies on a night out



A YOUNG man from Sydney’s western suburbs who headed into the city for a night on the town died in the waters of Darling Harbour.


Police say just before 1am (AEDT) on Sunday, the 19-year-old had been socialising at one of Darling Harbour’s trendy bars at Cockle Bay when he got into an argument with a number of people, including three off-duty security guards.

The confrontation turned into a brawl involving 20 men outside the bar, before two policewomen who tried to break up the melee were assaulted.

During the brawl, the young man from Plumpton fell into the water.

The police officers and several passersby dived in to try to rescue him, while a lifebuoy was also thrown in as part of the rescue effort.

But by the time he was pulled out of the water about 3.30am, he was pronounced dead.

Assistant commissioner Mark Murdoch said the death was being treated as suspicious.

“We are canvassing a quantity of CCTV,” Mr Murdoch said.

“The death is being treated as suspicious and we will continue to treat it as suspicious until the evidence tells us otherwise.”

He said police were trying to determine whether he fell into the water or was pushed, and it was still not known whether he was unconscious when he fell in.

His family are devastated, Mr Murdoch said.

Three off-duty security guards involved in the initial fight have been arrested – a 22-year-old from Berala, a 23-year-old from Macquarie Fields and a 24-year-old from Birrong.

Mr Murdoch said it was unlikely anyone would be charged on Sunday.

Police have formed Strike Force Southdown – including detectives from the Homicide Squad – to investigate the circumstances surrounding the youth’s death.

A critical incident investigation team will review the actions of police as part of standard procedure.

“They did their absolute best to try and rescue this fellow but were unsuccessful,” Mr Murdoch said.

AAP lxs/clf/was

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes