A PENSIONER whose body was found in the River Tees had hundreds of pounds taken from his bank account by a young woman in the months before he died, an inquest was told.

Retired hospital porter Sydney Presgrave was found in the River Tees, near Middleton One Row, near Darlington, on December 6, a day after he was reported missing.

The 81-year-old had taken a taxi from his home in Cox Green Close, Stockton, to Middleton One Row the previous day, Tuesday’s inquest was told.

Taxi driver Anthony Walker told the inquest that Mr Presgrave was in good spirits during the 20-minute journey.

Mr Presgrave’s son-in-law Dennis Highfield used to visit him three times a week and last saw him the day before he disappeared.

Mr Highfield told how his father-in-law had befriended a young woman some months earlier.

He said: “He told me that he would lend her money. I told him to be careful what he was doing with his money.

“Quite a lot of money had gone missing from his bank account several months before.

“He said he had lent his bank card to this lady in question.

“We got his bank statement through and there was quite a lot of transactions, between £750 and £800 that this lady had taken out.

“He said it was this lady that had taken the money out and he was quite ashamed that he had let her do it.”

Detective Sergeant Lee Allenby, of North Yorkshire Police, told the inquest that officers from Cleveland Police questioned the woman, who denied any wrongdoing and was released without charge.

Recording an open verdict, coroner Michael Oakley said: “We do not know how Mr Presgrave has entered the river, whether it was deliberate or accidental.

“There is nothing to suggest that he was depressed at the time.”