Malik pool man 'took ecstasy'

Detectives probing the death of a fireman who drowned in the swimming pool of actor Art Malik believe he had taken ecstasy.

Preliminary results from medical tests indicate that athletic 23-year-old Daniel Williams, who was the boyfriend of Malik's eldest daughter Jessica, had been taking the Class-A drug.

"He was in the fire brigade and could swim strongly," said a police source. "It would be very difficult for someone like that to drown in a small swimming pool under normal circumstances."

Mr Williams was discovered unconscious in the marquee-covered pool of the actor's Surbiton home after Miss Malik's 21st birthday party. Despite attempts to revive him, he was pronounced dead on arrival at Kingston General Hospital.

A post mortem revealed the cause of death as drowning. Although the death is not being treated as suspicious, police are investigating whether any illegal drugs were involved.

Mr Malik's £1 million home was searched on the day Mr Williams's body was discovered and a small amount of what is believed to be cannabis was found.

The fireman's mother Penny Williams, 50, and his sister Clare, 19, declined to talk about her son's possible involvement with drugs in an interview with the Evening Standard last month. "As far as we are concerned, Daniel was happy and that is the main thing," said Miss Williams.

Mrs Williams said she had spent most of the evening with her son on the day of the party and did not notice anything odd in his behaviour. The night began in a private room of the Mitre Hotel, Hampton Court, where about 90 guests enjoyed the celebrations with champagne and music.

At around midnight a small group of family and friends, including Mr Williams and his mother, went to Mr Malik's home to continue the celebrations.

Mrs Williams left at about 3am and her son called their home in Surbiton later to make sure she had enjoyed herself and had returned home safely.

Clare Williams was at home and called him after he left a message on the answerphone. She said: "We talked a bit and he said he was having a great time. He was not incoherent, he could hold a conversation."

Mr Williams, who had qualified to become a fireman just two weeks earlier, had been drinking alcohol that night but police have reason to believe he had "probably done more than that".

Professor Chris Milroy, an expert on ecstasy-related deaths and a Home Office pathologist, said: "If you exert yourself when you have taken any stimulant, whether it be alcohol, ecstasy, cocaine or heroin, you can easily get serious problems with your cardio-vascular system.

It might lead to collapse, even if you are a strong swimmer, and could contribute to drowning as you may not be able to get out of the pool.

"However, as a pathologist it is very hard to determine whether drugs or alcohol are the main cause. But a cocktail of drugs can often have dramatic and unpredictable effects on the body."

A date for Mr Williams' inquest is yet to be announced. The final results from toxicology examinations, which will be presented to the coroner, are due to be delivered in the next few weeks.