Ex-England rugby player nearly three times over limit when he drove into raging ford during Storm Darragh, inquest finds

A former England rugby player was almost three times over the limit before driving his 4×4 into a ford during a storm, an inquest has heard.

Tom Voyce, 43, had attempted to cross the River Aln, Northumberland, in his Toyota Hilux last December while Storm Darragh ravaged the country.

Mr Voyce was seen at the bar of the Queen’s Head pub in Glanton at 11.45pm on December 7, shortly before he attempted to drive home, Hugh Wood, brother of Mr Voyce’s widow Anna, told the hearing at County Hall in Morpeth.

Prior to that, the ex-England international who was capped nine times, had been at a shoot on his brother-in-law’s farm that day. The pair then went to the pub and spent the evening with two other men.

Following a major search after his wife raised the alarm on December 8, Mr Voyce’s body