Activity leader 'not trained' to help drowning teenager

A lecturer in charge of a college outdoor activity course when a teenager drowned had no safety training or relevant experience, an inquest was told yesterday.

Jason Dalton, 17, drowned after he jumped into a river in South Wales to help a fellow student, David Edwards, and the lecturer, Alun Davies, who were being sucked under by whirlpools.

Although the stricken pair got out safely when another student threw them a rope, Jason was pulled under the surface of the river Sychryd, which was swollen by rain as it passed through an 80-foot gorge at the Craig-y-Ddinas Forest Park.

Yesterday Mr Davies, a lecturer at Ystrad Mynach College, near Caerphilly, said he had not received any safety training or seen a copy of safety procedures before taking six students on the trip.

"The only safety equipment we had was the 22-foot length of blue nylon rope, which we had borrowed from the college caretaker," he told the inquest in Merthyr Tydfil.

He had no experience of the conditions and held no outdoor activity qualifications. "I didn't think I needed them."

Mr Davies, 44, said he had taken his four sons to the beauty spot five weeks earlier. They had jumped into the pool safely and there were no signs saying it was dangerous.

Jason, of Bargoed, near Caerphilly, was four days into a "character-building" summer course last August when he died. His girlfriend, Sarah Evans, also 17, said he decided to jump in after Mr Davies and the other student went under the water and did not come back up. "He gave me a kiss then jumped into the pool. But the water was even rougher and I saw him disappear. His head came to the surface two or three times and he was thrashing around before he disappeared altogether. Then I saw his body floating face down in the river. It was so unreal it was just like a bad dream," she said.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death and called for local authorities to ensure they used qualified supervisors. The Glamorgan coroner Philip Walters endorsed their recommendation, saying Jason's death was a "salutary lesson" for anyone organising school or college trips.

"Jason jumped into the water because there were people in difficulties. It was a selfless act where he hoped he would save his teacher and friend. But unfortunately he was the one who lost his life."

Jason's parents are considering legal action against the college and Caerphilly council. His mother, Carol, 50, said: "This accident was wholly avoidable if necessary precautions had been taken by the college and the teacher."

The Health and Safety Executive is also considering legal action. The Crown Prosecution Service has ruled out any criminal prosecution.

A spokesman for the college said staff deeply regretted the "dreadful tragedy". He said safety procedures at the school were constantly under review but refused to comment on how they had been changed since last year.

Jason's death, one of several accidents in which pupils perished, was followed last September by the release of new government guidelines for school or college visits.

Some teaching unions have warned that all school trips are under threat because of the extra work involved in training teachers and the risk of legal action by parents after accidents.