Media Coverage of Blackwater Drowning Inquest see also  Inquest Page and Drowning Investigation Page

Essex Enquirer  16 May 2011  Traumatised family continue legal battle after Maldon swimming pool death verdict
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A TRAUMATISED family whose young daughter died in an accident at a Maldon swimming pool have vowed to continue their legal battle against the company that run the leisure centre. 

Seven-year-old Michelle Gellard was found at the bottom of a swimming pool at Blackwater Leisure Centre, in Maldon, on 14 June 2008 just hours after she had won a silver medal at a judo tournament held at the centre.

 At Chelmsford Coroner’s Court on Monday the jury took two hours to return a verdict of accidental death from immersion.

Michelle’s father and grandmother, who attended every day of the six day inquest, were present for the verdict while Michelle’s mother was said to be too distressed to attend court after suffering post-traumatic stress in the aftermath of the incident.

 In a statement released on behalf of Michelle’s mother and father, Sian Lakey and Mark Gellard, the family said they were ‘deeply traumatised’ by the tragic death of their daughter and hoped lessons would be learned to prevent it ever happening again.

”Michelle was a healthy and happy seven-year-old. We hope as a result of this enquiry that lessons will have been learned and this unspeakable tragedy should never happen again. We do not intend to comment further at this stage so as not to prejudice further proceedings which are still pending"

The family currently have a civil case ongoing against Leisure Connection and the family’s solicitor said they expected criminal proceedings from the Health and Safety Executive to follow the inquest.

Outside of court HSE Inspector Antonina Drury said that she could not rule out a criminal prosecution stating: “This was a tragic incident and our sympathies go out to the family. The investigation is still ongoing.”

Leisure Connection runs Blackwater Leisure Centre on behalf of owners Maldon District Council alongside another 90 swimming pools across the country.

 In a statement following the verdict, Leisure Connection said: “Our sympathies remain with Michelle’s family in their tragic loss. The conclusion of this Inquest draws to a close the Coroner’s investigations into the accident. The Company acknowledges the thanks that were offered at the Inquest, on behalf of Michelle Gellard’s family, to its Duty Manager and lifeguards for all that they did to attempt to save Michelle’s lift.

“Leisure Connection remains fully committed to ensuring that it policy and procedures comply with all health and safety requirements and that its staff receive the highest quality training and support.”


Essex Enquirer 12/05/2011  Lifeguards 'short staffed' on day girl drowned at Maldon swimming pool  (text reproduced in full)
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HALF the recommended number of lifeguards were on duty at the time a young girl drowned at an Essex swimming pool, an inquest has heard. 

Three lifeguards had been on duty at Blackwater Leisure Centre swimming pool, in Maldon, when seven-year-old Michelle Gellard was discovered by swimmers lying at the bottom of the deep end of the pool on Saturday, 14 June 2008.

Evidence given on Tuesday revealed lifeguard Thomas Webb, who carried out the rescue, had only recently been brought on shift with two lifeguards patrolling the pool in the build up to the incident.

At Chelmsford Coroners’ Court on Thursday, Andrew Norris, operations manager at Leisure Connection, said he was ‘unaware’ a duty manager had been allowing two lifeguards to patrol the pool and confirmed that there should have been a minimum of four lifeguards on duty during the Fun for All session while the water flume was open.

Mr Norris referred to guidance in the company’s Normal Operation Procedure (NOP) saying: “We would usually be attempting to rota seven lifeguards but this was not always possible.”

He went on to defend staff at the leisure centre saying the pool had a clear policy for under eight year olds stating ‘accompanying adults must not leave children unattended beyond eye-sight’.

When challenged about the experience of lifeguards on shift at the time of the incident he said: “Regardless of how long they had been in the job lifeguards had in excess of 40 hours training, ongoing training at the pool side and health and safety inductions.”

Later questioning revealed the company’s NOP had been completed while the centre was without a site manager in March 2007 with many pages labelled ‘approved by A. Norris’.

Although he accepted he had helped draft parts of the document, Mr Norris strongly denied ‘acting up’ and approving the document saying: “That is wrong and I don’t know how my name got there.”


Essex Chronicle  12/05/11  Manager thanked for life-saving bid By Faye McBride  (text reproduced in full)
 
A MANAGER at the swimming pool where a seven-year-old was found dead was thanked by her family for trying to save her.

Michelle Gellard was found in the deep end at Maldon's Blackwater Leisure Centre on June 14, 2008.

Along with a St John Ambulance volunteer, manager Daniel Austin, 24, tried to resuscitate Michelle after she was pulled unconscious from the water.

Speaking at an inquest into the death on Tuesday, Mr Austin, from Tiptree, said: "I'd been working at the leisure centre for about four years when the incident happened.

"When a manager works on a Saturday, they cover the whole day, so I was in charge of the centre.

"I was in the sports hall with two of the lifeguards putting away equipment.

"I heard through the tannoy system that there was an emergency. It took me about 30 seconds to get to the pool side and Michelle was already out of the water.

"I started compressions and the St John volunteer gave the breaths. At about three occasions Michelle vomited and seemed to start breathing but remained unconscious.

"We put her in the recovery position and I sent someone to go and get an ambulance."

Mr Austin then told the jury at Chelmsford's records office that he asked someone to call for the ambulance again as it seemed to be taking a while to turn up.

He added: "The ambulance seemed to take a while to get here, maybe about 30 minutes.

"When paramedics arrived they took over from me, so I went and oversaw clearing the leisure centre."

Michelle was airlifted to Colchester General Hospital, where she died later that afternoon.

A post-mortem examination by Dr David Rouse showed she had a bruise the size of a two pence piece on the inside of her head.

Speaking on behalf of the Gellard family was solicitor Tim Petts, who said: "Mr Austin, I would like to thank you from the family.

"They are very grateful for what you did on that day."

Michelle had been competing in a judo competition before taking part in the leisure centre's Fun For All swim event.

An operations manual used by the company Leisure Connection, which manages the pool, states that four lifeguards must be poolside when a Fun For All event is taking place.

Mr Austin was asked why he only had only three lifeguards at the pool. He answered: "Because the pool was so quiet I could use my discretion to make these decisions."

However, Michelle's family believe that the lifeguards failed to notice their daughter getting into difficulties and have launched a civil claim for negligence against Leisure Connection, which will begin after the inquest's conclusion.

Joe Giles, 20, one of the lifeguards on duty on the day, said: "There were only about 15 to 20 people in the pool.

"I heard Tom, one of the other lifeguards get into the water, that's when I knew something had happened."

The inquest, which started on Monday, was expected to last nine days.


East Anglia Daily Times 10/05/11  Questions raised over lifeguarding in child drowing inquest  By Amie Keeley
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THE number of lifeguards on duty when a young girl drowned at an Essex leisure centre has been criticised by lawyers representing the child’s family.

A jury at the inquest into the death of seven-year-old Michelle Gellard, who was found at the bottom of the swimming pool at Blackwater Leisure Centre in Maldon in June 2008, heard how two lifeguards were poolside just before the incident despite normal operating procedures stating there should be four.

They also heard from the duty manager at the time of the incident who said this was could be reduced to two when there were few bathers in the pool, which there were at the time.

The girl had been competing in a judo competition in the centre’s sports hall and went for a swim accompanied by another parent, while her mother stayed to watch her neice who was still competing.

As the pool filled up, a third lifeguard came on duty and took up his position in the watch tower when he heard a member of the public shout for help and saw something on the bottom of the pool.

He explained how he dived in and lifted her to the poolside where he checked for breathing and began CPR before the duty manager intervened and took over with a crew member from St. John Ambulance.

The lifeguard surveying positions were looked at in some detail during the second day of the inquest, establishing that the deep end, where she was found, was not being supervised before the third lifeguard came on duty and it was not going to be afterwards.

The lawyer representing Michelle’s family, Timothy Petts, said: “If you are down one person, there is too much water to supervise and there are parts you can’t effectively supervise.”

He passed on the family’s thanks to the lifeguards for their efforts in trying to rescue Michelle before he began his questioning.

Lifeguards Thomas Webb, who carried out the rescue, and Rebecca Hardingham, confirmed they had both received and held up to date lifeguard and CPR training at the time.

Mr Petts also asked if they had received official training on which areas to cover in the pool if only two people were on duty which they said they had not although they were guided by what other lifeguards did.

Mr Webb said that from his position in the tower, he was not impeded by a potential blind spot that had earlier been highlighted and could see the area where Michelle was found, despite it not being specifically patrolled by a mobile lifeguard.

Lawyers for the lifeguards, Leisure Connection, which runs the Blackwater Leisure Centre for Maldon District Council, and the Health and Safety Executive were also present at the inquest held by the coroner for Essex and Thurrock, Caroline Beasley-Murray, at the Essex Record Office in Chelmsford.

It is expected to conclude next Tuesday May 17.