Boy, 4, drowned in ‘cloudy waters’ of indoor swimming pool at holiday camp with no lifeguard
A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy drowned in the “cloudy waters” of an indoor swimming pool at a holiday camp where there was no lifeguard.
George Miller was discovered in the 2.3 metre deep end in the pool at the Knapp House Activity Centre in Northam, North Devon, during a family holiday in August 2017.
The boy, from Weymouth, Dorset, was found three hours after his family group had left the indoor heated pool where they had all been swimming.
Exeter Crown Court heard the family was enjoying the last day of their holiday on a camping trip organised by Narcotics Anonymous.
Judge David Evans said today: “He must have died in the pool unnoticed while being used by the Narcotics Anonymous members sometime before 1pm.”
The court was told that the Narcotics Anonymous group had been on its annual Devon Summer Holiday Campout when the tragedy happened.
Torridge Council prosecuted the family-run Knapp House company who admitted failings and was fined £60,000 plus costs of £30,000.
Judge Evans said the way in which Knapp House made the pool available to the group was “woefully lax”.
He said the group believed that the centre would provide a lifeguard – but that was not the case.
The judge said: “The simple fact is that the point simply should not have been provided for use by members of the group without clarity.”
He said the holiday group asked to use the pool for two hours and they were given permission to do so.
A staff member gave George a buoyancy aid but it was not suitable for a child or for swimming.
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Exeter Crown Court heard that George’s father and family thought he had run off from the pool before the end of the session – but his body was found at the bottom of the deep end in water which was “cloudy”.
The pool – which had been covered with a tarpaulin after the session – was searched several times before the body of George was finally found after the alert had been raised.
The judge told his family that no sentence can ever make up “for this awful tragedy” and the “unbelievable pain and loss” that his death has caused his family.
