Bride loses compensation claim on husband's honeymoon death

A bride whose husband drowned while on honeymoon in the Maldives has lost her claim for compensation against the travel company that arranged the holiday.

Liza Jones, 32, a teacher, sued Sunworld Ltd over the death of her husband, John, 30, in a lagoon on Fun Island in August 1998. Yesterday the High Court in London ruled that the death was an accident and the holiday company could not be held responsible.

At an earlier hearing, the judge was told that Mr Jones, also a teacher, and his new wife both fell into a "hole" in the seabed as they walked together. Mrs Jones managed to escape and tried to help her husband, but he drowned. Sunworld, now incorporated into JMC Holidays, which supplied the 14-night honeymoon package at a total cost of £2,178, had contested the claim.

Mr Justice Field, who found that Mr Jones was "not a very good swimmer", concluded: "Adult holidaymakers like Mr and Mrs Jones must be taken to know the seabed is not even and that there is nothing unusual about changes in depth." He said holidaymakers should also "appreciate that the sea is capable of springing surprises".

He said: "In the 10 years that preceded Mr Jones's death no guest had reported to the management any difficulty about any pools, and although the resort has had 75,000 visitors, there have only been two other deaths connected with the sea.

"After anxious consideration I find that the circumstances were such that even if the defendant had made itself aware of the characteristics of the pool, those characteristics were not such that it would have been under a duty to warn Mr and Mrs Jones about the pool's existence."

James Dingemans, for Mrs Jones, had told the judge that the couple were married on 1 August 1998 and left from Gatwick for the Maldives the next day. "They arrived late in the afternoon of 3 August and travelled to Fun Island."

The next day, Mrs Jones spent part of the time writing thank-you letters. After lunch the couple went together to the lagoon area for a walk. The court heard that "one second" they were walking on the sandy lagoon "and the next they came to a sudden drop in the seabed". They were knocked off balance and were "pitched into a hole in the lagoon". Mr Dingemans said: "Liza managed to escape, but had a sensation of being pulled into the hole. John did not escape."