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A journalist and author who wrote much-admired columns from prison drowned in a Devon marina after spending an evening in a harbourside pub, an inquest has concluded.
Erwin James Monahan, who used the pen name Erwin James and wrote a regular column for the Guardian – the first of its kind in British journalism – fell into the sea at Brixham in Devon, close to where the boat he was staying in was moored, the inquest in Exeter heard.
The area coroner, Alison Longhorn, concluded James’s death at the age of 66 was accidental and contributed to by alcohol intoxication.
Longhorn said relatives considered that James, who was jailed for life for two murders and served 20 years in prison, had had a “lifelong problem” with alcohol.
She said: “Those who knew him from the marina told police it was not unusual for him to have consumed two bottles of whisky a day. He had been subject to a drink-driving ban following a fourth drink-driving conviction over a three-year period.”
Longhorn said that on the evening of 19 January 2024, CCTV footage captured James returning to the marina shortly before midnight after spending the evening at the Blue Anchor pub.
She said: “He can be seen to walk unsteadily towards the pontoon on which his boat is docked before falling over a railing. He is then seen to stand up and stumble over to another pontoon before vanishing.
“I find it likely when he fell over the railing, James hit his head on the pontoon, causing a head injury before he attempted to make his way back to his boat and fell into the water.” His body was found in the marina next morning.
In a statement, James’s wife, Margaret Monahan, said she met him while she was working as a teacher at Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire, where he was being held. She later visited him at a prison in Nottinghamshire. They fell in love and married.
After his release, they lived in East Sussex and north Wales. James bought a boat called Faithful, which was berthed at Brixham.
Monahan said James’s mother died in a car accident when he was seven. She said his father was a drinker and James left home when he was 10. He began stealing sweets and fruit, and was taken into care. His offending escalated and in 1982 he and another man carried out two robberies in which two men were killed.
James then left the UK and joined the Foreign Legion. Monahan said his father had convinced James to return and he was jailed for the murders.
In prison James used his time productively, the inquest heard. He studied and wrote a column for the Guardian, reading his words over the phone to a copytaker. After being released, he spoke to schools and went back into prison to talk to inmates serving life sentences.
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Monahan said James seemed sad when she spoke to him on the afternoon of 19 January 2024. “I think he was missing me. I could tell he had been drinking,” she said. He sent her the entire lyrics of the Eric Clapton song Please Be With Me, which he learned to play in prison.
She said: “I think Jim [the name she called him] used drink to block out the things that happened to him. I know he also suffered from grief at the crimes he committed.”
“Despite the awful upbringing Jim had and serving 20 years in prison, he was the most kind, generous and loving man. He was a good role model.”
A woman who spoke to James in the Blue Anchor pub, Sophie May, said he told her about his life, including a “sell-out tour at the Sydney Opera House” and going to JK Rowling’s Christmas party.
“We were all a bit tipsy but not incoherent,” she said. “I did not think Erwin was unsafe to walk back on his own.”
