Paddleboarding tragedy (why did she do this?)

[PassingStranger]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/former-cops-grovelling-voice-note-35105323

Did anyone else see this on the news?
4 people died
Horrific, imagine their panic.

What was behind this desire to take them out, when she shouldn't have.
I'll presume it was money sadly.😢

I'm glad she got prison.

Well if you don't wear a buoyancy aid you don't go on the water for starters. No it's or buts .

There's a weir. Weirs are bad generally. You need to be careful even in good weather. Some are death traps. You need to know the navigation.

And then the weather. You do an assessment and look at the level of experience of the group. DH wouldn't have gone in those conditions as an experienced paddler. The conditions were dreadful.

Then there's the suitability of the boards.

Paddle boarding has now been brought under the control of the kayaking regulatory body (bcu) since the accident.

There was a woman who died a few years ago within hours of buying herself a SUP board from Tesco.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64834022

The problem is it looks easy, anyone can pick up a board easily, so people with no knowledge of water safety or understanding of the dangers are just heading out poorly prepared - and without even realising how poorly prepared they are.

That doesn't apply to Nerys Loyd though.

It's so difficult to understand her decision-making. There are so many parts of this which should have been enough to stop everything, but she carried on.

Taking out a group of novices and just letting any of them decide not to wear a buoyancy aid. Let alone in those circumstances.

But to get a conviction for murder, you have to be able to prove intent.

Former police, another one
Bet they will love her inside.

Not only that but she apparently also tried to blame him for their decision to go out and for going the route they went on.

This was very serious negligence. The weather that day was atrocious (with associated warnings) and she did no risk assessments and did not cancel.
I live locally and when this happened there was astonishment that anyone would have even considered trying to paddle board over the weir, particularly in those conditions. This was not a local group - they had travelled down and trusted their leaders to have assessed this.

Absolutely tragic but avoidable, so I do think the 10 year sentence is appropriate.

I think I read that the judge said she will serve at least two thirds of that 10 year sentence.

I’ve just googled a picture of that weir and the fish-ramp thing. Wtf was she thinking? It’s desperately sad.

What is a fish ramp?

They're fitted to rivers to allow fish to migrate without getting trapped in a weir or other artificial barrier in the river. They are sometimes called fish ladders. Quite common if you look near a weir in a river.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpdz8jlqzvxo

"On Tuesday, the court was shown photos of a weir the group was trying to navigate.

This included a section called fish pass, which was 11m (36ft) long and on an incline of about one in seven, or 14%."

Awful woman.

BUT!

People need to check that what they are doing is utterly safety bound by rules.

Anyone can set up some bullshit sports without any safety organised by a professional body.

Sad for them and their family, friends etc. Utterly awful.

Perhaps it was a mixture of greed and complete ignorance.

In those very obvious appalling conditions I just can’t fathom how anyone could be so utterly utterly stupid.

I remember when it happened on the news

I don't remember it when it happened.
It took a very long time to come to court.

She’s an all-round shit person, it seems. Horrible creature.

As an ex police officer, her life in prison will be …interesting.

Ten years seems lenient.

Oh that's good, I didn't know the judge could specify that!

10 years isn't actually long enough when you consider that four people lost their lives due to her negligence. 😞

She's been out on bail all this time I suppose.
That must have been so hard for the families.

Decades ago near me a scout group died in similar circumstances, got pulled over a weir and drowned. Apparently the extra oxygen in the water makes it much harder to be boyant which combined with the weight of water pushing down on you makes it very difficult to escape. These risks are known and should have been known to her. You can’t expect novices to know though, they’d have trusted her.

I remembered this incorrectly, it was actually soldiers not scouts.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-34347337

There was video footage of her with the police a lot further down the river - she’d tried to phone the other instructor and could t get an answer. I’m not condoning her behaviour but those who are saying she didn’t go in to save the people - she couldn’t - she’d been taken way downstream by the flow.

I have wondered if the other instructor, if he’d survived would he have been held accountable too? Had they taken responsibility for this trip jointly?

I do kayaking and some sailing. I can't believe she thought it was a good idea to go on a river, in flood, with a weir. You've got to know your route and weirs are incredibly dangerous. I know people who have bought inflatable kayaks and have drowned when they've gone over a weir.

When you are taking people out, you have a responsibility to them if you claim to be an instructor.

The fact that no route seems to have been discussed, no briefing, no next of kin contacts etc.

Lessons shouldn't need to be learned, These should be known already

She was the boss, he told her it wasn't a good idea, but she ignored him.

It's the bubbles. All those bubbles make it harder to be buoyant.

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/inexperienced-kayaker-43-died-after-capsizing-on-swollen-river-ure-near-ripon-3517340

It's so easy to buy water sports equipment but the water must be respected