A loving four-year-old boy died in a swimming pool with a dangerously steep slope from the shallow end to the deep end, a court heard. Luca Hurle had been on holiday with his father, stepmother and brothers when the tragedy happened.
The kind young boy, from Newport, had been swimming with his dad and the other children when he got into trouble. The court heard the pool was deeper than guidelines recommended, had inadequate safety signs and that the pool had no adequate system to "protect non-swimmers from moving into deeper water”.
Lancashire Live reported that members of the group outside the pool at the rural holiday park on the edge of the Lake District soon realised they could no longer see him. He was found at the bottom of the pool and taken to Furness General Hospital, before being airlifted to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Tragically, Luca's life could not be saved.
His heartbroken mum Amanda Collins said: “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.
"We have to live without his infectious laugh and gorgeous smile. He was such a happy, happy boy. We have to live without his hugs and kisses and I have to live without Luca telling me thirty times a day he loves me.
“We have to live without him being with us on birthdays and Christmases and holidays. We have to live without seeing him grow up and live with the fact I will never be a grandmother to his children. I have to live without his wonderful drawings he would bring home from school and worst of all I have to live without Luca.”
Two companies were sentenced on Friday, June 24 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 victim’s personal statement, 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: "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 provided a statement which was read out by Mr Lumley. It said: “It is impossible to put into words the impact losing has had. As a family, we have lost a son, grandson, brother, cousin, nephew and so much more.
“Luca was an energetic, loving and kind boy whose smile and laughter was contagious. You always knew when Luca was around by his bouncing feet, booming voice and beaming smile. Our home is now full of silence, long silence which used to be full of laughter and giggles. We remember him every day and see him in our dreams and are left with a gaping hole in our hearts that is and will continue to be impossible to fill. We get up each morning and live each day wishing Luca was here and never quite understanding why he isn’t here.
“As a man my life has changed. I will never get to see Luca grow into the amazing teenager, adult, parent and grandparent that I know he would have been. I find it hard to give love when I have had so much taken away from me so my relationship with family and friends have suffered. I know I have to continue and I do so for my family around me but I will never be the man I was. The best of me was gone when I lost Luca and I will never get it back.
Defending Holker, Dominic Kay offered remorse to the family and said the director Allen Gibb, who sat in court, had written a letter to the judge which he hoped would be given to Luca’s family. Mr Kay asked for credit for the early guilty plea and said that the company had done everything required by council inspectors and had asked twice about whether it must lower the depth of the pool and did not receive a response on the second occasion.
Defending Newmac, Peter Smith also offered condolences to the bereaved family. He went on to argue liability should be reduced as the company wasn’t responsible for the day to day running of the pool but this was dismissed by Judge Philip Parry. The judge also slapped down a suggestion that Mr Newbold could not have done more to convince Holker to make more changes.
Sentencing, Judge Parry made clear that the sentencing was for health and safety failings and not for Luca’s death, adding that if it was, no financial penalty would be able to provide suitable compensation. He explained that the financial penalties were based on a range of factors including the culpability of each defendant; the level and likelihood of the harm exposed; and the size of the companies involved. The last point means that Holker’s annual turnover of around £5m means its sentencing guidelines are significantly different to the ‘micro company’ Newmac which turns over around £120k per year.
He ordered Holker to pay a fine of £127,500 plus costs of around £27,000 making a total of £154,920.22. Newmac was ordered to pay a total of £16,000.
In a statement shared after the sentencing, Amanda Collins said: "Today corrects the public perception that what happened to my son was an accident, and acknowledges the failings of the parties that had a legal and public obligation to keep him safe. This has been the darkest time of my life, and yet my son’s light still shines brightly. I want to thank South Lakeland District Council, and everyone else involved for their exceptional work to get this result, and who cared about justice for Luca as much as I do. My family and I now wish to have our privacy at this time."
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