Kyra Hill unlawfully killed at Berkshire water park – coroner

An 11-year-old girl who drowned throughout a birthday celebration at a water park in Berkshire used to be unlawfully killed following gross breaches in well being and protection, a coroner has concluded.

Kyra Hill were given into problem in a chosen swimming space at Liquid Leisure close to Windsor on 6 August 2022.

An inquest at Berkshire Coroner’s Court in Reading used to be informed how Kyra, from Croydon, south London, used to be discovered greater than an hour after emergency products and services had been first alerted.

The proprietor of the park used to be fined £80,000 in June 2024.

Breaches incorporated the loss of an emergency plan or a possibility evaluation, the inquest heard.

The most effective caution indicators associated with shallow water, regardless of depths achieving 4.67m (15.3ft) in portions of the swimming space, senior coroner Heidi Connor stated.

Mrs Connor stated the reality oldsters weren’t made conscious about the dangers or the intensity of the water used to be “likely to have caused or contributed more than minimally” to Kyra’s loss of life.

“If there had been systems in place to make parents and carers aware that there were deep parts of the water, that there was a requirement for one adult per four children in the water, if parts of the water had been demarcated as deep or shallow, and there was not a falsely reassuring sign about shallow water, then it is unlikely that Kyra would have got into trouble in the water as she did,” she stated.

Mrs Connor additionally stated deficient visibility within the water – described as “zero” by means of the diver who discovered Kyra – additionally contributed to her loss of life, and that if an emergency plan or possibility evaluation used to be in position, the opposite possibility components would had been diminished.

A 17-year-old lifeguard noticed Kyra suffering at about 15:20 BST on 6 August 2022 and dived in after her, ahead of leaving the water to inform colleagues.

A supervisor briefly attended, however emergency products and services had been most effective referred to as 37 mins afterwards, Mrs Connor stated in the past.

A diver ignored a number of calls and he input the water so that you can in finding Kyra at about 16:30, discovering her at about 17:10.

Life jackets had been most effective required for youngsters elderly 3 to 5 on the water park, or for individuals who weren’t competent swimmers.

Her father, Leonard Hill, fought again tears as he learn a pen portrait of his daughter on the inquest on Tuesday.

“Kyra was a beautiful, beaming beacon of light in the lives of all who were fortunate enough to know her”, he stated.