This is an extract from the Slough Observer<\/p>\n
Kyra Hill inquest: Waterpark \u2018invited children to swim in deep water<\/strong>\u2019 – 17th May – By Nicole McBride<\/p>\n A waterpark owner caused danger by \u201cinviting\u201d children to swim in deep water, a lawyer representing the family of a drowned 11-year-old girl has told her inquest.<\/p>\n Kyra Hill died after getting into difficulty in a designated swimming area at Liquid Leisure near Windsor, Berkshire, on August 6 2022.<\/p>\n Rachel Marcus, representing the Hill family, asked Senior Coroner Heidi Connor to consider possible gross negligence manslaughter by Liquid Leisure owner and director Stuart Marston, as well as corporate manslaughter ahead of her conclusion.<\/p>\n In her oral submissions at Berkshire Coroner\u2019s Court on Friday, Ms Marcus said \u201cactions and omissions\u201d prior to Kyra going in the water were an area for investigation.\u00a0 Ms Marcus told the inquest: \u201cThe danger was created by Mr Marston himself in relation to gross negligence manslaughter, in not only permitting but inviting children including Kyra to swim in a designated swimming area containing deep water.\u201d\u00a0 The lawyer said Mr Marston \u201cowed a duty of care\u201d to those who were swimming in the designated swimming area.\u00a0 Ms Marcus said that not focusing her submissions on the failed rescue attempt did not mean that it was not \u201cexceptionally bad\u201d.\u00a0 She added: \u201cWith alternative action and better planning Kyra would have had a better chance of survival.\u201d<\/p>\n Angus Withington KC, representing Liquid Leisure, said in his submissions that the company was \u201ca separate and distinct legal entity\u201d to Mr Marston, adding that the company was \u201cresponsible for all of the activities\u201d.<\/p>\n In relation to Mr Marston, Mr Withington said: \u201cThere is no basis at all as a matter of law in imposing a duty of care on a director or owner in relation to the activities of an entirely separate and distinct legal entity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be wholly impermissible for a finding to be made that he had assumed a duty of care in circumstances where it was not put to him and he was not asked whether he accepted individual or legal responsibility effectively for the safety of everybody for the activities associated with the company where he was a director.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Withington said this applied to whether there \u201cought to have been a warning in relation to deep water at the site\u201d, adding it also applied to \u201cwhether or not there ought to have been a swim check, buoyancy aids to be worn, or further information to be provided of adult-to-child ratios\u201d.\u00a0 He added that these points were \u201cnowhere near serious enough for a crime such a manslaughter\u201d.<\/p>\n In relation to corporate manslaughter, Mr Withington said there were \u201cno national or international standards or any specific health and safety legislation\u201d which would enable the coroner to make an assessment whether the \u201carrangements were a breach of duty or a gross breach of duty\u201d.<\/p>\n Senior Coroner Ms Connor told the inquest that a post-mortem examination had given the cause of Kyra\u2019s death as \u201cdrowning\u201d.<\/p>\n Thames Valley Police Sergeant Samuel French, who was a response sergeant at the time of the incident, told the inquest that police were called at about 4pm and \u201cofficers were deployed immediately\u201d.\u00a0 Kyra was seen going under water at 3.20pm and emergency services were called to the scene at 3.57pm by Mr Marston, the inquest previously heard.\u00a0 After being told by the coroner that it had taken 37 minutes for 999 to be called, Sergeant French spoke of his \u201csurprise\u201d having initially said he believed the spotting of Kyra struggling had occurred \u201caround 20 minutes prior to the call to police\u201d.\u00a0 The police officer said CCTV, which directed divers searching for Kyra to the right area, had not been looked at by the time he had arrived at the scene \u2013 which took about 20 minutes in a police car.<\/p>\n Diver Chris Knight resurfaced in the swim area having found Kyra at 5.09pm after there had been numerous searches in parts of the lake away from where Kyra had been last seen.<\/p>\n Giving evidence, Sergeant French said: \u201cIt was quite a chaotic scene from what was being fed back to me with lots of people present.\u201d\u00a0 The police officer added: \u201cThere was conflicting messaging, and that\u2019s what made it so difficult and that\u2019s why I tasked the CCTV to be reviewed.\u201d\u00a0 He said there had been \u201ca bit of a mix of information\u201d as to whether Kyra \u201chad been seen going underwater\u201d and \u201cwho was the last to see her\u201d.\u00a0 Asked about his recollections of the scene, Sergeant French said: \u201cI would describe the scene as busy.\u00a0 \u201cIt was quite a tricky environment because there were so many people present and so many wanted to know what was going on.\u201d\u00a0 Asked about his memory of the day, the police officer said: \u201cThis was quite a traumatic incident and it burns an image on your brain that you remember.\u00a0 \u201cThe incidents I remember like yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n The inquest continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is an extract from the Slough Observer Kyra Hill inquest: Waterpark \u2018invited children to swim in deep water\u2019 – 17th May – By Nicole McBride A waterpark owner caused danger by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n