THE family of a barman who drowned in a river five years ago is distraught after a plaque in his memory disappeared.

Abbi Horrocks discovered that the memorial plaque beside the River Ouse in York had gone when she went early yesterday to lay flowers to mark the fifth anniversary of her brother Richard’s death.

The plaque was attached to a balcony overlooking the river near the Revolution bar, from which Richard, 21, jumped at the end of his last shift at the bar on July 24, 2011. He tried to swim across the river, but got into difficulties and drowned.

Ms Horrocks said: “I am always a bit worried that someone might have defaced the plaque but when I saw it had gone I was very shocked and upset. We don’t know if its been taken for its scrap metal value or if it’s personal in some way.”

The plaque read: “In memory of Richard Anthony James Horrocks. On July 24, 2011, Richard thought he could swim across the river. On August 1, 2011, his devastated parents and sister attended his funeral.”