An "introverted and lonely" man was confirmed dead when he failed to attend a Premier League football match last year, an inquest heard.

The body of John McRoberts, 59, was found in the River Thames, close to Kew Bridge, after his sister Heather reported him missing on December 21, 2013.

Police identified Mr McRoberts, originally from Belfast but living in Kingsbury, north London, at the time, as a possible match to the body on Christmas Eve.

The inquest into the Arsenal season ticket holder's death was heard at West London Coroner's Court on Monday, December 22, and coroner Chinyere Inyama recorded an open verdict.

Police attended his home address, where they found a newspaper dated November 19, but no proof of his existence beyond that date, and concluded he died on the following day.

Detective Constable Ciaran Kilmartin, from Brent Police, told the court he was confident the body was that of Mr McRoberts, a civil servant, after making enquiries with Arsenal Football Club.

He said: "I made checks with Arsenal about his season ticket and there was a home match against Chelsea on November 23 which he didn't attend.

"After that phone call I went to the detective inspector and said 'this is John, we have found him'."

Ms McRoberts, who gave evidence via video link, was eventually informed her brother was dead on January 8, this year, after the dental record analysis was returned.

She told the court: "I would never, ever have thought John would have done something like this.

"I find it very difficult to accept that he did, in fact, take his own life.

"That, to me, was something he was not capable of as he was a weak person in many respects."

Mr McRoberts struggled to cope with the loss of his father in late 2010 and checked himself into the Park Royal Mental Health Hospital, where a nurse told his sister he displayed symptoms of Asperger's syndrome.

Ms McRoberts added: "To my mind, that would be a reason why he was quite a loner all his life, he wasn't a mixer and was quite introverted."

A postmortem examination concluded Mr McRoberts died after drowning close to Kew Bridge.

Mr Inyama could not be satisfied Mr McRoberts took his own life and therefore recorded an open verdict.