A four-year-old boy died in an unsafe swimming pool at a Lake District holiday park, a court was told today.
Luca, from Newport in south Wales, had been on holiday with his father Gavin Hurle, stepmother Donna Southcott, brothers Gabriel and Oliver, and other family friends when the tragedy occurred.
Luca Hurle drowned in a pool which was deeper than guidelines recommended at a caravan site near Grange-over-Sands.The pool also had inadequate safety signs where measures “failed to protect non-swimmers from moving into deeper water”.
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Luca had been swimming with his dad and the other children when he got into trouble. Members of the group outside the pool soon realised they could no longer see him.
Emergency services were called and the four-year-old was taken to Furness General Hospital, before being transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, where he tragically died, LancsLive reports.
Two companies were sentenced on Friday for health and safety failures relating to management of the swimming pool at Old Park Wood caravan park, near Grange-over-Sands, and a pool at another park under the same ownership. They were Holker Estates, the owners of the park, and Newmac Ltd, a firm which was responsible for assessing and advising on its health and safety matters.
Preston Crown Court heard that the pool was not only deeper than recommended, but had a dangerously steep slope leading from the shallow to deep end and no non-slip flooring. Prosecuting, Henry Lumley explained there were no markings such as patterned tiles to highlight the change in depth and a sign warning of a 1:8 gradient was half the reality of 1:4. Health and Safety Executive guidelines for swimming pools, known as HSG179, recommend that pools with a steeper drop than 1:15 should have additional measures such as lifeguards even though it is not a legal requirement.
A CCTV system was linked to screens in an office 350m away but on the day of Luca’s death, the system was not even active. No monitors were on and CCTV hadn’t been recording for a week, meaning the family still do not know the circumstances of how the youngster came into trouble. A pool alarm was so quiet it could barely be heard in the nearest building and not at all in the office.
Holker Estates were advised in an independent report by Andrew Green in 2012 to conduct external reviews of its risk assessment and protocols which had not been updated in several years and showed there was a lack of leadership and direction in its health and safety management. Its health and safety committee was described by Mr Green as ‘dead’.
That year, Newmac, run by Andrew Newbold, pitched for the contract and made promises to act on all the problems cited in the Green Report. Regular meetings were held but no changes were made to the pool’s management and the previous risk assessments were maintained despite having obvious errors. The possibility of reducing the pool’s depth was mentioned in correspondence but Holker’s response was that an inspector from South Lakeland Council had already stated that this wasn’t necessary.
The inspector had in fact suggested that changes should be made “if practicable”, but costs in excess of £150,000 to either extend the pool to reduce the gradient or fill it in to lower the depth meant the change was not pursued as a priority. The depth has been reduced since Luca’s death.
In a statement read out in court, Luca’s mum Amanda Collins described the pain and heartbreak she has suffered as a result of the loss of her son. Amanda said she often feels “like I don’t want to go on” and that she thinks of Luca late at night and as soon as she wakes up. The mother said she suffers with PTSD along with panic and anxiety attacks and memory loss as well as flashbacks and night terrors.
She told the court: "The impact of losing Luca has been beyond catastrophic. Our everyday lives have been annihilated by grief, and the realisation of having to face an unwanted and unknown future. Not only have I had to deal with my own grief, questions, and queries as to where blame lies, but I have also had to deal with the grief of Luca’s brothers and the sadness in their eyes every single day since the day of this life changing incident.
"Amongst my own emotional trauma, I have had to find the strength to help Luca’s brothers see hope does exist, even when I didn’t believe myself that there was any hope, and to realise that they still have a life to live, and that none of this is their fault."
Luca’s dad Gavin described his son as an "energetic, loving and kind boy". Part of his statement also said: "The best of me was gone when I lost Luca and I will never get it back."
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