The deaths of two youngsters who drowned after being caught in a rip current at Bournemouth beach were accidents following an “unexpected anomaly of nature,” a coroner has concluded.
Joe Abbess, 17, and Sunnah Khan, 12, drowned and eight other people were treated by paramedics after they were thought to have been caught in a rip current next to the pier at the Dorset seaside resort on May 31 last year.
During the eight-day inquest into their deaths, the parents of the two youths had questioned the lifeguard response to the incident and whether better signs should have been in place warning of the risk of rip currents by the pier, as well as providing safety advice for swimmers.
Joe Abbess, who was described as ‘caring, hard working and funny’, died after getting into difficulty in the water off Bournemouth beach (Family Handout/PA)
On Friday, returning her findings, Dorset senior coroner Rachael Griffin said: “I cannot say the tragic outcome would have been any different if the lifeguards had entered the water earlier as this would be purely speculative.
“This was a spontaneous event and not an event that was impacted by deliberate human factor.”
The coroner added that she was satisfied “nothing more than was done, could have been done” to prevent the tragic deaths of the children, and that the flash rip current would have been difficult to see from the shore, where lifeguards were patrolling the beach.
It is believed the flash rip current took place at approximately 3.45pm that day, and the first lifeguard entered the water to begin rescues at 3.53pm, once he noticed something was happening.
The inquest had heard how Bournemouth beach, one of the busiest in the country, is rated as “relatively low hazard” but there is an “elevated risk” under windier and higher wave conditions.
The inquest also heard from lifeguards on duty that signage to warn of strong currents was put out on the beach that day because of the easterly wind present that day which “makes the beach more dangerous”.
Mrs Griffin said Joe and Sunnah, who had visited the beach with friends and family respectively, were abiding by the rules on the beach and swimming between the designated red and yellow flag zone.
She said it cannot be said they would have behaved any differently if there was permanent signage fixed on the beach.
Following the coroner’s conclusion, Sunnah’s parents, Stephanie Williams and Asim Khan, paid tribute to their “kind, happy, and incredibly beautiful” daughter who was a “force of nature”.
But they hit out at the RNLI, saying they believed lifeguards were not given enough training or knowledge of mass rescue incidents, and that there was a lack of information sharing of other mass rescues at the beach during the summers of 2021 and 2022.
“Despite three mass rescue incidents in the previous two years there appeared to be no planning for another inevitable mass rescue,” they said.
“We feel this is a failure by an organisation which exists to save lives who have not taken the necessary steps to prevent death on this occasion.
‘Kind and happy’ Sunnah Khan died swimming next to Bournemouth pier (Stephanie Williams/PA)
“Unless the RNLI make improvements to the way they train staff, incident report and calculate risk we fear further deaths will occur.”
It was heard the RNLI and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council are continuing work after the incident, including on adverse incident reporting.
The parents also said they hope shining a light on the tragic circumstances will open the conversation around educating children on water safety.
Reacting to the conclusion Joe’s mother, Vanessa Abbess, described the trainee chef at Southampton Football Club as “generous, loving, caring, hardworking and funny” and that the family was “incredibly proud of the fabulous young man he was.”
Mrs Abbess said through the inquest many of the family’s questions “have been answered” and the coroner has searched for lessons learned.
“This can’t bring our precious Joe back, but it gives us some comfort that other families won’t have to go through what we have.
“We have visited Bournemouth beach this week to reflect and remember Joe. We saw the fresh concrete on the signs which warn of strong currents.
“While we appreciate this has been done now, it should not have taken this long.”
At the conclusion of the inquest, the coroner paid tribute to the RNLI and emergency services for their response that day, and to the RNLI and British coastguard for their work to inform the public on water safety.
She added she will be writing to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson in a prevention of future deaths report over her concerns of the lack of mandatory education in schools regarding water safety.
“It concerns me water safety does not form part of that curriculum,” she said.
The move was welcomed by Mrs Abbess, who added: “We feel much more can be done to improve education around water safety. We share the senior coroner’s concern that there should be mandatory water safety education for children.
“Like the senior coroner, I am concerned that this should be universal for all children.
“If any message can be taken from our loss, it is that rip currents can be dangerous, and everyone should know and practice the RNLI’s advice of float to live.”
The mother also shared her concern about the lack of a clear legislative framework and responsibility around beach and sea safety, and said the family will be campaigning for change for the Government to address the ambiguities.