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.

I was going to book with this company for me and my daughter the same year, but chose surfing at the last minute. 🙏

Reading about the case has been truly harrowing.

Fair enough however he could have stood his ground. I’m not blaming him at all but I do wonder how thing would have turned out if he’d survived. At least there was text message evidence of him saying it wasn’t a good idea.

Yes, and according to the reports, the people on the trip did not know they were going to be going down a weir at all. She went successfully down the very narrow fish pass, and everyone else just fell down over the weir. Horrific. I know this part of Wales very well. It's just awful walking along that river and thinking about what happened to them.

Lives were lost as a direct consequence of her actions.

She didn't set out to kill them, so it's not murder but if she hadn't acted the way she did-her actions-then four souls would be alive today. She showed no remorse-she lied and tried to blame a dead colleague.

I imagine that's why she got 2 years six months for each life that was lost-which seems pretty lenient to me.

Four people will no longer feel the sun on their back, no longer laugh, no longer see their loved one, no longer cry, no longer sleep, no longer breathe because of her actions. She condemned them to darkness.

I think the sentence should have reflected that and been 5 years for each life which is still lenient.

What an awful tragedy. Looking a photos of a weir I would never have guessed they are so dangerous, they look like very small ramps/ledges.

The fish ramp was so narrow, inexperienced people didn’t have a hope in hell of navigating down it.

It's the way the water flows over it and washes around a bit like a washing machine.

It's very hard to get out of it

She also attempted to shift significant blame onto her dead colleague
This woman is low

I read that the other instructor who worked for her tried to get her to change the route because of the conditions, but she insisted on going that way as it would be more exciting…

I lived in Haverfordwest for several years and nobody in their right mind would try and paddleboard or kayak over that weir if they knew the area. She did the trial run on a day when the tide was high and the river level was low so the weir was barely visible. She just assumed that because it was safe and easy to cross it that day, it would be safe any day. She didn’t even bother to check it before setting off on the trip despite there being a flood warning in place for the Western Cleddau.

If she’d bothered to do even basic research like contacting the local canoeing club she’d have been given very clear advice not to attempt paddling over the weir - there are steps just before you get to the weir where they could have gone ashore and simply carried the boards around the weir before relaunching.

I feel so sad for the families of those who died because this was a completely and utterly avoidable tragedy.

The water can be very deceptive.
Take a look at what is called the strid. North Yorkshire.

I don’t understand the AIBU and what I’m voting for?

It was a horrific and negligent accident. What is U about it?

People tried to stop her, warned her not to go, some people dropped out after hearing that but she kept going telling them it was fine.

Yes I don't understand the weir bit. Paddle boarding is generally just standing about on a board, why go down a weir with that narrow fish lane bit?

Did they know they were going to be negotiating a weir? Even without any weather issues the logistics of getting down that would surely have been challenging even for experienced paddle boarders.

There’s a really good video of a water tank by a fireman about how a weir works when it’s faster water, horrible watching his little Lego people.

I live in Cornwall and know that you need to be careful near the sea. Every year there are tragedies when people dobt know the tides. Always swim near a life guarded beach and respect the notices. So sad for tge families who have lost loved ones

I guess if you don't know about weir dangers, then you don't know that they can be dangerous.

I wonder how many people look at a weir and think it would be just fine to go over and what's the worst that can happen?

I wonder what made them trust her? There are some terrible people hiding in plain sight. I realise this more and more as I get older.

Thanks that was a very enlightening video.

She looks evil. Nothing going on in her eyes.

Inflatable paddle boards and kayaks in shops should be banned. They are a recipe for disaster. They put experienced kayakers / surfer etc at risk

Always people who did not have a clue who buy them. Any one who wants to buy one should buy from an approved seller.

I live fairly near and I remember this day and the incident well. There were severe weather warnings, heavy rain in the days before and flooding. She should never have taken them out in those conditions. We also had planned to go out on a different river that weekend but one look at the weather warnings and we postponed

Agree. The supermarkets have them piled high in Cornwall when we go down on holiday - usually alongside other beach paraphernalia. Someone picking one up in Tesco won't be getting any advice on how to use it safely and it's not sold in a way that suggests it could be dangerous to use.

those poor people

I knew one of the people who died and honestly I think it is horrendous, 10 years is no where near enough time to compensate for 4 lives lost. She was not qualified to take them out, she had not instructed them to wear the right clothing, use the right ankle attachments for river paddleboarding. She didn’t even take next of kin details which resulted in one of the victims mother not finding out her daughter was dead until 12 hours after the fact. She was blase in all the video footage and clearly thought going down over the weir would add excitement to the trip and had no idea of the consequences! It makes me so sad tor the families and friends of the victims that she got to spend the last 3 1/2 years in the wide world enjoying herself before she was sent to prison.

the families have a permanent prison sentence and she will never be able to take that back. I hope she loses everything important to her.

The sentence was far too lenient imo