MPs have been urged to make the “abhorrent” act of vandalising water safety equipment a specific offence.
Lee Pitcher, Labour MP for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme, presented the proposed legislation, known as Sam’s Law, to the Commons with a number of measures designed to prevent drownings in open water.
Sam Haycock died aged 16 after getting into difficulty in water at Ulley Reservoir on May 28 2021.
It has become recognised that in some specific instances of crimes, while covered by a broader category, they are so abhorrent that they should exist as a crime themselves
Sam’s Law would create a specific criminal offence for vandalism of safety equipment around bodies of water.
It would also create a legal responsibility to provide, maintain and ensure easy and rapid access to safety equipment around reservoirs, and expand water safety learning outcomes in the national curriculum.
Introducing the Bill using the ten-minute rule motion, Mr Pitcher said: “It has become recognised that in some specific instances of crimes, while covered by a broader category, they are so abhorrent that they should exist as a crime themselves.
“We have recognised, for example, that assaults on emergency workers who are risking their lives to save others are particularly heinous.
“We have recognised that domestic abuse just can’t be prosecuted as if it were a simple assault. We recognise that slavery, slavery is more than just kidnapping and forced labour.
“It is also recognised that to destroy, damage or remove lifesaving equipment, and therefore endanger lives, should not just be simply vandalism.”
The Doncaster MP acknowledged there would be a cost to landowners for maintenance of safety equipment, but said reservoirs were “fundamentally different from most other bodies of water”.
He said: “They are not naturally occurring. They are created. They are managed and operated as part of an intentional and usually profit-making enterprise.
At the end of the day, we are talking about people's lives, not just the lives that are lost, but the lives of the ones who lose - who lose their sons like Sam, who lose daughters, who lose brothers, sisters, friends and partners
“Therefore, I do not think it unreasonable in these circumstances that those who own the asset or operate it should play their part in installing and maintaining lifesaving equipment.
“At the end of the day, we are talking about people’s lives, not just the lives that are lost, but the lives of the ones who lose – who lose their sons like Sam, who lose daughters, who lose brothers, sisters, friends and partners.”
Mr Pitcher said Sam’s father had become “a champion of water safety” in the wake of his son’s death.
He said: “I met Sam’s father, Simon, last summer for the first time. He handed me the sweetest picture of his gorgeous boy, and he bravely retold that story of what had happened.”
He added: “Sam’s father has channelled his grief into doing something positive, but his words, when I saw him, just ring through my ears – ‘It’s the absence that gets you, one minute your son is there, looking forward to the summer holidays and the next chapter of his life at college and the next, he’s gone’.
“From that moment that the first tear fell down my face when he started to retell that story, I knew I had committed to helping him achieve that goal.”
The Bill will be read again on June 20.
