An Aberystwyth University student died after attempting to walk the coast from Aberystwyth to Clarach and back in January, an inquest has heard.

Adam Dewulf-Peters, 20, was an experienced hiker and member of the university’s hiking club, the inquest at Aberystwyth heard on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, 23 January, the second-year international politics student messaged friends at just past 3pm to tell them he was going to walk the coast from Aberystwyth to Clarach.

He was never heard from again.

The inquest heard that it is “unclear” how the walk ended in tragedy, but was told that Mr Dewulf-Peters had, in his first year at the university, attempted the same walk and been cut off by the tide.

On that occasion, which left him “scared” the inquest heard, he scrambled up the cliff face to safety.

Friends had raised the alarm with police after Mr Dewulf-Peters was not seen for two days.

His body was found three days later after a coastguard search.

His body was located at the foot of a cliff just south of Clarach, but there was no conclusive evidence as to whether he fell from the coastal path or became trapped by the tide.

The inquest heard that the high tide was not until 10pm that evening.

A post-mortem revealed a “catalogue of injuries”, and sand and debris were found in Mr Dewulf-Peters’ airways, suggesting he drowned.

Ceredigion coroner Peter Brunton told the inquest that while the evidence was “not definitive”, the actions of the tides and waves “throwing his body against the rocks, may be to blame for the catalogue of injuries while being in the water for three days”.

“Something occurred on that walk, but we cannot be sure what.

“With the high tide at 10pm, it is difficult to explain how he could become cut off.

“He may have walked the shoreline before coming back along the cliff top.

“It is possible he may have fallen, but there is no clear evidence of how he lost his life.”

Recording a verdict of misadventure, Mr Brunton told Mr Dewulf-Peters’s parents, who attended the hearing, that “to lose your son at the age of 20 is a catastrophic blow that only those who experience it can understand”.

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