Finding into death of Nicholas James Muggleton
Deceased
Nicholas James Muggleton
Demographics
43y, male
Date of death
2025-10-22
Finding date
2026-07-27
Cause of death
Drowning
AI-generated summary
Nicholas James Muggleton, a 43-year-old experienced swimmer and surfer, drowned on 22 October 2025 while attempting to rescue his friend Calum who was struggling in rough water at Frankston Beach. Severe weather conditions that day included winds gusting to 87 km/h and large waves washing over Frankston Pier. Nicholas had been clinically stable with well-managed mental health conditions and was in good spirits at the time. Post-mortem examination confirmed drowning as the cause of death; toxicology revealed ethanol (0.09 g/100mL) and high levels of THC. The coroner found the death was accidental. Key recommendations were for Parks Victoria to work with Life Saving Victoria to assess the viability of installing publicly accessible flotation devices at Frankston Pier and other locations with recent drowning incidents, though devices may not have definitively prevented this death.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Severe weather conditions with winds gusting to 87 km/h
- Rough and turbulent water with large waves
- Friend in distress in water
- Broken surfboard
- Presence of ethanol and THC in system
- Absence of publicly accessible flotation devices at Frankston Pier
Coroner's recommendations
- That Parks Victoria work with Life Saving Victoria to undertake a risk assessment of Frankston Pier to determine the viability of installing publicly accessible flotation devices at this location
- That Parks Victoria work with Life Saving Victoria to review other piers under its jurisdiction where drowning incidents have occurred to undertake risk assessments to determine the viability of installing publicly accessible flotation devices at these additional locations
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