Girl, 11, drowned on school trip after being ‘jolted’ from water ride at Drayton Manor theme park
AN 11-YEAR-OLD girl drowned on a school trip after she was “jolted” from a water ride at a theme park, a court has heard.
Drayton Manor could face a £2.5million fine if convicted of a health and safety breach after the death of little Evha Jannath, who fell from the Splash Canyon river rapids ride during a trip with schoolfriends.
The youngster was with pals from Jameah Girls Academy in Leicester when their vessel hit a barrier, causing her to topple in head-first.
Evha then tried to climb up a travelator at the end of the six-minute ride before plunging into a 12ft pit of water, suffering a serious injury to her chest, and vanishing from view.
The schoolgirl, who couldn’t swim, was found face down in the water by a staff member. She was rushed to hospital, where she later died.
A court has now heard that there were “organisational” safety failings at the Staffordshire theme park when Evha died on May 9 2017.
An inquest into the girl’s death was held last year. During that hearing, a coroner said Evha sustained a broken pelvis and organ damage before she died.
The original cause of death was given as blunt force trauma to the chest. However, forensic pathologists later concluded that the schoolgirl drowned.
And after the tragedy, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched a prosecution against the park.
Today, Cannock Magistrates’ Court heard Drayton Manor – which is now in administration – faces a single charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Prosecutor Ben Mills said the accident was caused by a “constellation of different failures relating to the safety of the public on the ride”.
HSE alleges a series of failings, including that there was inadequate signage for those on the ride, as well as a lack of training for staff.
There was also an “element of understaffing” at the park and a “lack of emergency planning” in place, while CCTV cameras covered just half of the ride, it was heard.
Mr Mills said: “The failures were at an organisational level and not levelled at the individuals seeking on the day, no doubt, to do their very best.”
The latest accounts for the park showed it turned over around £24m in 2019, meaning a fine of £2.5m was within the court’s range, the prosecutor said.
However, Mr Mills said judges could decide “whether that should increase substantially to reflect the fact that it was the cause of a death”.
Richard Matthews QC, representing Drayton Manor, said: “The prosecution’s allegations of the extent of the failures and nature of them are something that isn’t necessarily all agreed.”
The case will next be heard at Stafford Crown Court in the new year.
Witnesses told the coroner at Evha’s inquest of how the youngster fell into the water.
Theresa Atkinson, who was there with her family, said the girl was “being a bit silly” with friends – before toppling “in the blink of an eye.”
“I noticed they were all standing and leaning over to scoop water at each other. The water is a little bit choppy there but it’s not enough to topple it over,” she said.
“I thought they were being a bit silly. They shouldn’t have been doing what they were doing.
“I glanced away for a moment and then I could hear screaming.”
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She rushed to get help after attempting to climb a fence to get to the little girl, but said she was unable to watch when Evha was pulled from the water.
Evha and four friends boarded the vessel without a teacher, after school staff agreed to the pupils’ request to go on the ride unaccompanied.
The inquest heard there was no requirement for staff to inform guests to sit down and hold onto the ride before they boarded.