Relatives of two of the four people who died in a paddleboarding tragedy on a swollen river have fiercely criticised a former police officer who led the tour over a weir despite having only basic qualifications.
Family members claimed that Nerys Lloyd, 39, was arrogant to guide the group on the river in south-west Wales despite the conditions and her lack of expertise and had shown no remorse over her failings.
Survivors described trying to save each other after they plunged over a weir and fell into the fast-flowing water, and called for stronger regulation of the sport.
Lloyd, 39, is being sentenced at Swansea crown court after admitting four counts of gross negligence manslaughter and a Health and Safety at Work Act offence.
Morgan Rogers, 24, Nicola Wheatley, 40, Andrea Powell, 41, and Lloyd’s co-instructor Paul O’Dwyer, 42, a former soldier, died.
The prosecutor Mark Watson KC said the conditions in the River Cleddau in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, were clearly dangerous.
“The river was in flood condition with a visibly strong current,” Watson said. There was a narrow fish ramp in the centre of the weir only slightly wider than the width of a paddleboard.
“Save for that ramp, the entire face of the weir dropped sharply down. On the morning of 30 October 2021, this was a drop of approximately 1.3 metres.” The court heard almost two tonnes of water was crossing a 1 metre-wide section of the weir crest every second.
Watson said: “Although both the defendant and Paul [O’Dwyer] had undertaken a paddleboard instructor’s course earlier in the year, this was a basic entry-level qualification, wholly unsuited to leading a tour on a river in spate with hazards such as a weir.”
The current propelled the group down the river. Lloyd managed to get through the fish ramp but the others were swept over the weir and fell off their boards.
In a victim personal statement, Mark Powell, the husband of Andrea Powell, said he thought about the “sheer panic” his wife must have felt.
He said Lloyd’s failings were on a “monumental scale”, accusing her of being lackadaisical, arrogant and deceitful. He asked: “How can a police officer allow this to happen?” He had detected no remorse from her, he said.
Teresa Hall, the mother of Morgan Rogers, told Lloyd: “You guided Morgan to her death.” She said she thought about her daughter “gagging” for breath. Hall said: “She had confidence in you as a leader.”
Gemma Cox, a survivor, said: “I have remembered every day the feeling I had when I went over that weir. Having to jump over the edge not knowing what would happen when I hit the water. Not a day goes by without remembering what it felt to pull Morgan on to my board and trying to bring her back. I can remember the look in Nicola’s husband’s eyes as I was forced to tell him his wife was gone.”
She added: “I had no idea what a weir was or that we would be going over it. I did not know what was ahead of me. If I had I would not have got on the river that day.”
Another survivor, Melody Johns, said: “Paddleboarding is largely unregulated and boards are still being sold without quick release leashes that can save lives. Many people are continuing to buy boards without much thought about safety. Something needs to change.”
A third survivor, Jemma Dugdale, said sporting bodies including Paddle UK, Paddle Cymru, Sport England and Sport Wales, needed to do more to prevent such a tragedy happening again.
The court heard that Lloyd was suspended from South Wales police at the time of the tragedy after accepting a caution for a fraudulent insurance claim involving a vehicle. She had advertised the River Cleddau trip on Facebook for £149 a person to include overnight accommodation and supervision by two “fully” qualified instructors.
Lloyd did not carry out risk assessments or obtain next of kin details for the victims – leading to a delay in contacting family members, the court heard.
Moments after the tragedy she said: “It’s my fault 100% … I just turned around and they all fell over.”
The prosecutor told the court all of the participants, who were “beginner and intermediate” paddleboarders, were “completely taken by surprise by the presence of the weir”.
The sentencing hearing will conclude on Wednesday.
