A PARTINGTON dad who died still clutching his daughter after falling down a cliffside into a river, had been drinking and taking drugs beforehand, a coroner’s court heard last week.

James Scott Gallacher, 35, was carrying his three year-old daughter Soraya on July 18 at a Welsh beauty spot near Llanbedr, when he fell 50 ft into a river in front of his partner, Tracy White.

But the inquest heard Mr Gallacher had drunk a couple of pints before the accident, and a toxicology report showed evidence of cocaine in his system.

North West Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones, heard Mr Gallacher’s behaviour and judgment would have been affected.

The inquest also heard Soraya died during the fall, a blow to the head fracturing her skull killing her instantly. An autopsy showed Mr Galllacher drowned.

The pair were found by amateur divers who helped with a search haround an hour after the accident, Soraya still in the arms of her dad under a submerged rock.

Verdict: accidental death.