Det Supt Steve Payne, of West Yorkshire Police's homicide and major inquiry team, told an inquest at Wakefield Coroner's Court on Monday he was satisfied Ian Clark, of North Avenue, had not been attacked or forced down the 60ft well at the 900-year-old castle.


The 42-year-old's body was found on October 30 – three days after he was last seen alive on a night out at bars and nightclubs in Pontefract town centre.
A padlock securing a heavy, spring-loaded metal grille covering the entrance to the well was found 50m away and had been forced.
The officer told the court the death had initially been treated as suspicious and eight people were arrested following rumours about Mr Clark's involvement "in a number of complex inter-personal relationships".


But he said: "We have no forensic and no witness evidence to say that Ian Clark was involved in any altercation that night or that anyone else was involved in placing Ian down the well."
The inquest heard it was not possible to see how deep the well was when looking from above.


Pathologist Christopher Milroy said a post mortem revealed Mr Clark – a former security guard, known as Geordie – died from multiple injuries.
He added: "He had fallen down the well feet first. He was alive when he fell and death would have occurred very rapidly after the fall."
Toxicology tests showed Mr Clark had drunk some alcohol on the night of his death – less than the legal driving limit – and revealed a trace of cocaine.


He said the drug substitute benzylpiperazine – known as "legal ecstasy" – was also present and may have affected his judgement.
Det Supt Payne said witnesses had told police Mr Clark used to go to the castle to smoke controlled drugs when he "had something on his mind" and "especially after he had argued with girlfriends".


The court heard Mr Clark was last seen on CCTV walking along Horsefair with his hands behind his back – as he was known to do when "troubled" – at 4.05am on Saturday October 27.
His son Michael, who was 21 at the time and had been out with Mr Clark that night, said: "Friday night, when he left me, he seemed happy. He seemed himself."
Mr Clark, who was a divorced former security guard, also had three daughters aged 18, 12 and ten.


Recording an open verdict, Coroner David Hinchliff told his family: "Your dad was not drunk, he would not have been the worse for drink.
"He had taken a substance, not a massive amount, of legal ecstasy, something that would give you a high, not zonked you out.
"We can't say what happened that night. My hunch is that it was a tragic accident – he has not realised that there was 60ft drop there."