A "jolly, happy and caring" 63-year-old grandfather had been looking forward to Christmas prior to his death, his inquest heard.

Julian De Bono's body was found in the River Gipping six days after he was seen leaving a work Christmas party in December last year.

Witness statements from Mr De Bono's colleagues were read out in Suffolk Coroners Court on Monday, as well as statements from those who saw him the evening after the party had finished.

Mr De Bono was described as a "family man who loved spending time with children and grandchildren."

They said he was "really looking forward to Christmas" and seeing his family.

People who knew Mr De Bono also described him as "well-liked, smart, funny, sociable, happy, caring and jolly".

The court heard that Mr De Bono attended his work party on Saturday, December 9 and according to work colleagues had drinks prior to arriving at the meeting place.

At around 12.15am on Sunday, December 10, taxis arrived to take attendees home with Mr De Bono telling colleagues he wanted to go into town.

The taxi dropped him off, with his work colleagues' last recollection was seeing him holding on to a rail to stay balanced.

Detective Inspector Richard Prouse, who looked at "hours and hours" of CCTV footage, was part of the Criminal Investigation Department at the time.

He said that from studying the CCTV, Mr De Bono didn't go into town and instead walked down Crown Street and St Matthew's Street at just after 12.30am stating he was "all over the footpath clearly very unsteady on his feet".

The last CCTV footage of Mr De Bono shows him at 1.58am, just short of some steps to access the river walkway.

Julian De Bono captured on CCTVCCTV of Mr De Bono's last known movements were released in the search for him. (Image: Suffolk police)

When he failed to show up for work on Monday, December 11, his work colleagues contacted the police to file a missing person report.

A search was conducted, with a number of teams looking for Mr De Bono in the area of Ipswich that he was last seen.

On Thursday, December 14, the distinctive white shirt he was wearing on the night of his disappearance was found, so another river search was conducted.

A dive team searched the river on December 16, and recovered a body from the River Gipping, around 150 metres from where the steps down to the river walkway are.

This was later confirmed as Mr De Bono.

A home office post mortem found Mr De Bono to have a blood alcohol concentration of 130 miligrammes, just over one and a half times the drink driver limit.

The inquest heard this may result in a loss of reaction, control and impaired balance.

Following the post mortem, Mr De Bono's medical cause of death was recorded as drowning.

Assistant coroner Peter Taheri concluded the inquest by stating that while the level of alcohol found in his system was not sufficient to be the cause of death, it did sufficiently affect his ability to walk and balance.

He said: "I am satisfied he entered the River Gipping near to and shortly after he was last seen on CCTV.

"There was no further phone activity, no confirmed sightings after 1.58am and no bank activity after this time.

"Soon after the last confirmed sighting, Mr De Bono entered the River Gipping due to an alcohol related accident."

Mr De Bono's date of death has been registered as December 10, 2023, six days before his body was recovered from the river.