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Missing student found in river

Petition launched after second River Aire death in two years

A campaign is building to lobby Leeds City Council to improve safety around the River Aire following the death of the Leeds student Matthew Wilcox.

Matthew’s body was found in the river by West Yorkshire Police divers on Friday after a week of searching the local area for the missing 19-year-old.
    The first year geography student went missing on February 26 after a night-out in the Mission nightclub, Heaton’s Court, with friends. Police say there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.
    Matthew is the second student to have died after falling in to the river in the last two years.
    It is believed that the he fell in to the river in a similar place to that of Gavin Terry, a Leeds Met students who was found dead in the river after a two month police search in 2008.
    Gavin, also 19, had been on a night out drinking with friends before he disappeared.
    Friends and family of the two students are now calling on members of the public to sign the online petition, appealing… Continue reading...