Tragic Death of 11-Year-Old Girl at Water Park Ruled as Unlawful Killing
A coroner has ruled that the death of 11-year-old Kyra Hill, who drowned during a birthday party at Liquid Leisure water park in Berkshire, was unlawful. The inquest heard that gross health and safety breaches contributed to her death.
According to reports from Kent Online, Senior Coroner Heidi Connor found that the breaches related to the depth and visibility of the water, as well as the absence of an emergency plan and risk assessment.
On August 6, 2022, Kyra got into difficulty in a designated swimming area at the water park. The inquest heard that there were no signs warning of deep water, despite it reaching 4.67 meters in parts of the area. In fact, the only sign present warned of shallow water.
The coroner also heard that parents and carers were not advised to attend with children in a ratio of one to four, and young children were permitted to swim without buoyancy aids. There was also no emergency plan or risk assessment that took those factors into account, and no control measures were identified and put in place to "take account of these clear risks".
Coroner Connor said: "The two gross breaches before Kyra went into the water are likely to have caused or contributed more than minimally to her death." She also noted that Stuart Marston, the owner and director of the park, was involved in the search for Kyra and described himself as a "hands-on manager" during the inquest.
However, the coroner concluded that it was unlikely that Mr. Marston personally owed an individual duty of care to Kyra, and that the company’s breaches of duty were more relevant to the case.
The inquest also heard a heart-wrenching pen portrait of Kyra, read by her father Leonard Hill. He described his daughter as a "beautiful, beaming beacon of light" who was "resolute in her beliefs" and would "stand up for what was right without hesitation".
Kyra’s father also spoke about her dreams of becoming a professional footballer and her aspiration to pursue law and become a lawyer to "fight for the truth".
The inquest heard that there was a 10-minute period where no staff were searching the area where Kyra was seen going under, and that lifeguards searched other parts of the lake instead, following incorrect reports by members of the public.
A manager attended rapidly, but around 37 minutes passed between Kyra going underwater and 999 being called. The park owner attempted to phone a divemaster and off-duty firefighter around 13 minutes before emergency services were contacted.
The diver, Chris Knight, missed several calls, and CCTV showed him first entering the water with an oxygen tank at 4:33 pm. He found Kyra near the third area at around 5:09 pm.
Coroner Connor concluded: "Members of the family, at no point have I forgotten that this was about your 11-year-old Kyra, and I am so very sorry that you are here today. It must have been incredibly difficult to sit in court and hear some of the evidence that we’ve heard. I offer all of you my heartfelt condolences."
Harvinder Kaur, director at Fieldfisher, the law firm that represented the Hill family, said: "We are grateful to the coroner for exposing the failings that occurred in the lead up to Kyra’s death. We hope now that there will be positive change in the industry to prevent future deaths."
A Thames Valley Police spokesperson said: "Our thoughts remain with the loved ones of Kyra Hill following her tragic death at Liquid Leisure near Datchet on 6 August 2022. We note the ruling from the coroner following the inquest into Kyra’s death and we will be liaising with the coroner’s office. We conducted a thorough investigation into Kyra’s death at the time, before handing a file to the coroner and the local authority."
The ruling from the coroner is a stark reminder of the importance of health and safety measures at water parks and other leisure facilities. As reported by Kent Online, the case has highlighted the need for adequate emergency plans and risk assessments to be in place to prevent such tragedies in the future.
