THE family of a man who drowned in a river want high railings installed alongside it to prevent another death.

Christopher Lawless’s body was found in the River Medway on March 18 last year after he had been missing for three weeks.

The 23-year-old was expected to return to his home in Blanchard Close, Mottingham, after a night of clubbing on February 22 last year.

But he disappeared after leaving the Amadeus nightclub in Strood in the early hours of the next morning.

His former partner Stara Muldoon and their two children, Kai, aged eight and Paige, four, went on a march along the river on Saturday (Mar 14) to get railings put in place.

The 100-strong march was in response to the death of 18-year-old Sonny Pataria from Kent, whose body was found in the river last month.

A group has been set up on a social networking site called GET HIGHER RAILINGS FOR RIVER MEDWAY 4 SONNY P XXX, which has almost 3,000 members.

Ms Muldoon was with Mr Lawless for nearly eight years and says the last year has been very hard for her.

The 43-year-old, of Dorney Rise, Poverest, said: “The children are really doing well, they’ve coped better than any of us.

“How do you cope without someone you had in your life?

“Christopher was a lovely person, he would do anything for anybody.”

His mother Jackie laid flowers by the stretch of the river he fell in on February 23, the day Christopher’s family believe he died.

The 56-year-old said: “We have had quite a traumatic time trying to get over it which we still are.”

Mrs Lawless, of Whippendell Close, St Paul’s Cray, said: “My son was so outgoing, he loved life.

“Everybody that knew him missed him and are probably still missing him.

“He played such a big part in everybody’s life.

“He would go out of his way to do anything for anybody.”