Pond death parents to repay £25k

[Paulw]

A family who received £25,000 in compensation after their son drowned in a pond at a holiday park has been ordered to repay the cash.

Matthew Marsden was two years old when he was found by his parents face down in 18 inches of water.

But yesterday three Court of Appeal judges ordered them to repay the money plus the £15,000 legal costs they received.

Parents Tracey and Philip sued Bourne Leisure after the tragedy at its Greenacres Holiday Park, Porthmadog, in 2004.
At the appeal Lord Justice Moses said Bourne Leisure had done nothing wrong in not fencing the pond.

He added: "Holiday sites will almost inevitably contain sources of danger to small unaccompanied children."

It manager Philip, from Buckley, Flintshire, said: "It seems to have left a loophole in health and safety law."

The family had hoped for a ruling that every man-made pond in the UK be fenced.

[Graham Hadfield]

Obviously a tragedy for the family concerned and one which I'm sure none of us would wish to see repeated.

Having said that, thank goodness for the judges. Health & safety is a two-way thing. Employees have responsibilities as well as employers and users of facilities have responsibilities as well as the providers of those facilities.

People must start to take responsibility for themselves and their children as used to happen in years gone by.

Graham

[davehutch]

Originally Posted by Graham Hadfield

Obviously a tragedy for the family concerned

People must start to take responsibility for themselves and their children as used to happen in years gone by.

Graham

I can’t agree more !

[jon&lisa]

I really cringe when I see sites with ponds and lakes. My parents friends lost their son in a neighbours pond some years ago. When we were away this weekend there was a couple with twins about 20 months old and they just let their kids run the site and there is a big deep fishing lake there I was really concerned about this and went and took the kids back to their parents. The parents did not seem concerned at all I personally think that ponds. lakes, rivers should be cordened off in some way. At the end of the day I think it is down to the parents to look after their kids and make sure that they are in eye contact at all times. Easier siad than done I know but do your best.

[ggmad]

If ever we were on sites with Lisa and Laura when they were little I always kept a very close eye on them, didn't let them wander off and kept them well away from the ponds etc. I've seen parents just letting tiny tots wander off on their own like John says who don't seem at all bothered. In a similar vein, I've had the same age group wandering up to Bonnie and playing with her, feeding her and tugging at her. It's a good job she is so good natured, although there have been times when she's been totally fed up with all the pestering and gone and hidden in the back of the car. Another favourite time is when the parents are packing up, they let the kids go depending on others to entertain them. Yes, parents should keep a close eye on their children and keep them safe and under control

[phill]

People just let there children play nowadays without properly supervision and unfortunatley blame others when things go wrong, But sometimes accidents do happen and the results are tragic.

[swiftbev]

Whilst i do agree that parents should be vigilant - and keep an eye on their children where possible, the very nature of children is that they are inquisitive - and will take every opportunity to slip the net!

It takes seconds for a toddler to get in to mischief - i have 3 children myself and consider myself a very level headed sensible parent. However, there have been a couple of occasions when one of them has gone awol - luckily they were all ok - but how many of you can say hand on heart that any of your children have NEVER gone out of your sight for a second? These parents wouldnt have meant this to happen to their child - but it wouldnt have happened if there was a net over the pond!

Every single pool and pond in America has netting over it for this very reason, so perhaps we should take a leaf out of their book. If there is a 'known' risk - then its up to the owners of the park to make sure its a safe environment for children - even toddlers! Clearly it wasnt as there is a toddler dead now because of their oversight.Bev

[Brightstar]

Were do you stop ? If you start having to fence and net pools What about putting fences around tree's just incase they try to climb them and fall out as i have on number of occasions AND then do we put fences around fences becauce they may try to climb on the fence .At the end of the day kid's will be kid's and accidents will happen This is a very unfortunate accident but to blame the site is a bit unfair

[Freetochat]

Originally Posted by Brightstar

Were do you stop ? If you start having to fence and net pools What about putting fences around tree's just incase they try to climb them and fall out as i have on number of occasions AND then do we put fences around fences becauce they may try to climb on the fence .At the end of the day kid's will be kid's and accidents will happen This is a very unfortunate accident but to blame the site is a bit unfair

Health and Safety can be taken to extremes, however, an unfenced pond at a location where children will be known to play and perhaps wander is a forseeable risk. Yes, the parents do have a responsibility, but so does the park owner.

[swiftbev]

Originally Posted by Brightstar

Were do you stop ? If you start having to fence and net pools What about putting fences around tree's just incase they try to climb them and fall out as i have on number of occasions AND then do we put fences around fences becauce they may try to climb on the fence .At the end of the day kid's will be kid's and accidents will happen This is a very unfortunate accident but to blame the site is a bit unfair

There is a vast difference between a child drowning in water, and a child falling out of a tree and at worst breaking an arm or leg! A 'forseeable' risk IS just that - forseeable! If a child falls out of a tree - then it wont do it again quickly! If a child falls into a pond and drowns - all the choices are taken away as its too late for it to have learned a lesson. If this had been a child of yours i doubt you would be wanting to forgive the owners of the park - all for the price of a bit of netting.Bev