STUDENT Maraizu Anyanwu drowned in a canal trying to find a cash-filled bag he snatched from a businesswoman.

Police believed the 18-year-old had mugged the woman in the city centre the previous day, a Manchester inquest was told.

And on returning to the Rochdale canal early next morning he was overcome by the cold when he entered the water.

Ironically, the bag had already been recovered by the police and husband of the victim.

Coroner Leonard Gorodkin heard that Mr Anyanwu fitted the description given by several witnesses.

And clothing found at his home in Mowbray Avenue, Prestwich, last February matched that worn by the robber.

He was also identified on CCTV that captured parts of the incident, the inquest heard.

After the mugging in Minshull Street, Manchester, a passer-by chased the robber who threw things out of the bag, including a thick wad of £10 notes.

At one stage, he jumped into a taxi and later a parking attendant spotted him waist high in the canal and spoke to him before he escaped.

Mrs Rosaline Anyanwu said the day after the robbery her son had asked her for 30p and that was the last time she saw him alive. Detective Sergeant Samantha Prime, in a statement, said there was strong evidence that Mr Anyanwu committed the robbery.

"Due to the cold water and sloping canal base he died when he tried to recover the bag," she added.

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death, saying: "It wasn't from fighting or trying to escape that he ended up in the canal."