Drugs probe in Malik pool drowning

The mother of the man who drowned in actor Art Malik's swimming pool said today she believed he died after he fell asleep.

Penny Williams, 50, said the death of her 23-year-old son Daniel, discovered after an all-night party, was purely an accident.

Mr Williams, a fireman and the boyfriend of Mr Malik's eldest daughter, Jessica, was discovered at about 7am on Friday unconscious in the swimming pool of the Hollywood actor's Surbiton home after Miss Malik's 21st birthday celebration.

His mother spoke out as detectives investigated whether drugs were involved in the death.

"We do not blame the Maliks in any way whatsoever," she said. "We feel sure he fell asleep."

Mrs Williams, and her daughter, Clare, 19, declined to talk about her son's possible involvement in drugs. "As far as we are concerned Daniel was happy and that is the main thing," said his sister. Tests to find out how much alcohol he drank and if he had taken drugs may take "days or even weeks".

While detectives do not believe the death was suspicious, police searched Mr Malik's home following the death and sniffer dogs found a substance, believed to be herbal cannabis. Inspector Lee Crispin said: "We are investigating every aspect, including drugs."

Mrs Williams said she had spent most of the evening with her son and did not notice anything odd in his behaviour - Mr Williams even called her later to make sure she had arrived home safely and to ask if she had enjoyed the party.

The evening began in a private room of the Mitre Hotel, in Kingston, where about 90 guests enjoyed music and champagne. At around midnight a small group of family and friends, including Mr Williams and his mother, went to Mr Malik's £1 million home to continue the celebrations.

"It was a very quiet party, there were just small groups of people chatting around the pool," said Mrs Williams. "He didn't want me to leave. I will always remember the huge, long hug we had shared shortly before I left him." She and her husband left at about 3am and as the couple made their way home, Mr Williams left a message on their answering machine, concerned that he couldn't see his mother at the party.

His sister called him back. "I heard the front door go and so I called him and said she was back," she said. "We talked a bit and he said he was having a great time. He was not incoherent, he could hold a conversation. I was too ill to go to the party, so he said he hoped I would get well soon and told me he loved me lots."

Mrs Williams then phoned her son. "He wanted to make sure we enjoyed ourselves," she said. "He was very protective. We had a real laugh and I said we would see him soon."

Meanwhile, Miss Malik, who had been seeing Mr Williams for seven months, chatted with friends beside the pool, some of whom went for a swim.

As the guests went to bed, Mr Williams stayed up, floating on an airbed. At 7am his body was discovered by a partygoer. He was pronounced dead before 8am at Kingston General Hospital.

A post-mortem examination revealed the cause of death was drowning. An inquest is due to open at Kingston. "We were just so shocked and we still are," said Mrs Williams. "We are finding it very hard to cry. We went to see him on the day he died and he looked very peaceful, just like he was having a nice sleep.

"I am glad we saw him, he looked like he had the beginnings of a smile on his face."

On 15 February, Daniel qualified to become a fireman. He was posted at Knightsbridge fire station where he joined Red Watch and had worked for about two weeks. The family have been informed the service plans to give him a guard of honour at his funeral, a date for which has yet to be fixed.

Clare Williams added: "Daniel told me he loved Jessica and she knew him quite well, but nobody knows him like we do. We were so very close. I will miss him so much. He was my big brother. He would always look after me."