An inquest into the death of 11-year-old schoolgirl Kyra Hill after she drowned at a water park in August 2022 has heard there were no signs warning of deep water
A leisure park failed to warn of deep water at a centre where an 11-year-old girl drowned during a birthday party, an inquest heard today. Kyra Hill got into difficulty in a designated swimming area at Liquid Leisure near Windsor, Berkshire, in August 2022.
The water in parts of the park was metres deep in places but signs only warned it was shallow, Tuesday’s hearing was told. Kyra was found more than an hour after emergency services were called and taken to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, where she was pronounced dead. There were “various sharp drops” of up to 4.5m (14.7ft) within the swimming zone, senior coroner Heidi Connor told Berkshire Coroner’s Court.
The lake was 2.68m (8.8ft) deep where Kyra was seen going under, a report carried out after the incident found. However, the only signs relating to depth in the designated swimming zone said “danger shallow water”. The coroner asked Liquid Leisure’s owner and director: “Do you think it’s reasonable for a parent seeing that sign to think all of the water is shallow?”
Stuart Marston said: “You could interpret it in different ways but, yes, you could interpret it that way.” Shallow water signs were erected following a civil claim after someone hit the bottom with their knee, he added. “We were told to put danger shallow water signs around the facility so people didn’t jump in,” he said “It’s very difficult, in hindsight now… if there was a deep water sign there and also shallow water (signs), it would be conflicting.”
Mr Marston initially told the inquest he believed “to the best of my knowledge” that the depth of the water in the beach area had been measured before Kyra’s death. Rachel Marcus, representing the Hill family, put to him that they had not seen any documentation stating it had.
Mr Marston responded: “I would say then if you haven’t seen anything then it hasn’t been tested. Tested in the way of the robot coming in and doing the underground stuff, then, no, we haven’t done any testing on the swimming area.”
Life jackets were not required for people over six years old, provided they were competent swimmers. People were required to sign a waiver saying they were a competent swimmer, had a reasonable level of fitness and ability, and were able to exit the water without assistance, the inquest heard.
CCTV of the incident showed around 42 people in the water and others on the beach, the coroner said. One lifeguard was overseeing the area and Mrs Connor put it to Mr Marston that Liquid Leisure’s policy required at least one lifeguard per 30 participants.
He said lifeguards at nearby activities, in the same lake as the beach area, would occasionally check from their stations. “Others do look around because it’s never at full capacity on all of the activities,” he added. The director later accepted that more lifeguards should have been on duty.
The beach starts as sand but becomes “silt and mud” further out, with some witnesses describing it as “squishy” at the bottom, the coroner said. She suggested this could decrease water visibility.
There were no warnings about the texture of the bottom or the visibility, the inquest heard. The family’s lawyer also put to Mr Marston that the muddy bottom could be difficult to push off from. Mr Marston replied: “I’ve never had a problem, no-one has ever said it would be hard to push off of.”
The point at which sand turned to mud would vary through the year but this was not monitored, he added. The coroner said: “This inquest is going to be very difficult, predominately for Kyra’s family, I’m very much aware of that.” She added it will not be forgotten “that this is about your Kyra, an 11-year-old girl who supported manchester-united-fc>Manchester United and who dreamt of a career in law”.
The inquest previously heard that emergency services had been called to the scene at 3.55pmm, and Kyra was found just after 5.10pm and taken to Wexham Park Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. It was told a post-mortem examination gave the cause of her death as drowning.
During a prosecution last year, a judge at Reading Crown Court fined Liquid Leisure £80,000 and ordered to pay £30,000 costs. The company had admitted one count of failure to discharge general health/safety duty. The park was prosecuted by Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council.
The inquest continues.