Mystery still surrounds the death of a homeless man whose body was pulled from the water in a popular High Wycombe park earlier this year.

Mohammed Sarfraz Akhtar, 46, was discovered face down in The Dyke at The Rye by a dog walker after 8am on February 21.

It is not clear when he arrived at the park or how and why he entered the water, but his body was seen floating in The Dyke on CCTV at sunrise.

Dog walker, Ronald Hester, saw what he thought was a “blue holdall” floating near the edge of the water close to the boat house, but on closer inspection, he realised it was a body.

He called 999 and then when police arrived, he helped pull Mr Akhtar’s body from the water.

Mr Akhtar had around £300 in cash, his bank card and a probation slip in his name in his pockets at the time.

DC Criona Riordan from Thames Valley Police said Mr Akhtar had been living at the Old Tea Warehouse in High Wycombe but had been evicted two months prior to his death and he had been homeless since.

Dr Ige, from the Oxford Health NHS Trust, said Mr Akhtar was suffering with mental and behavioural disturbance due to psychoactive substance misuse and non-organic psychosis, possibly as a reaction to his “stressful” housing situation.

He had been offered support from a number of different agencies, including One Recovery Bucks and Bucks County Council.

A toxicology report following his death found that he was three-times the drink-drive limit and also had methadone in his system, along with small amounts of cannabis and morphine.

It was ruled that Mr Akhtar had drowned, but that ethanol and methadone toxicity may have contributed to his death.

Senior coroner for Buckinghamshire, Crispin Butler, said there was no indication that Mr Akhtar had taken his own life.

Mr Akhtar’s brother, who was present at an inquest into his death on Wednesday, said their family was still “confused” as to what had happened.

He said: “He was not the type of person to harm himself, especially when he had cash on him. It wasn’t a small amount of cash, it was a substantial amount. He wouldn’t commit suicide, I know him.

“It just doesn’t make sense, him being at The Rye in the dark. He was seen at Totteridge Mosque at around 8pm the night before but we don’t know what happened after. We are still confused.”

Mr Butler recorded an open conclusion into Mr Akhtar’s death, adding: “There is no evidence as to how he came to be in the water. He had a history of substance misuse but there is nothing to suggest he took his own life.”