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Girl canoe tragedy 'misadventure' Safety calls follows canoe death
(about 2 hours later)
A verdict of misadventure has been returned at the inquest of a nine-year-old girl who drowned when a canoe overturned in river rapids. A coroner has called for the rules governing canoe hire on rivers to be reviewed after a nine-year-old girl drowned in fast-flowing rapids.
Billie Clayton was on the River Wye in Powys with her twin brother Edward and their father Ian when the incident happened at Glasbury in April 2006. Powys coroner Peter Maddox recorded a verdict of misadventure at an inquest into the death of Billie Clayton.
Mr Clayton, 48, a presenter for ITV Yorkshire, was able to reach his son, but Billie was not found until later. Billie was on the River Wye in Powys with her twin brother Edward and their father Ian when the incident happened at Glasbury in April 2006.
The inquest in Welshpool, Powys, heard how firefighters tried to save Billie. After the hearing, Mr Clayton launched an attack on the canoe-hire industry.
But she was later pronounced dead at Hereford General Hospital. Mr Clayton, 48, a presenter for ITV Yorkshire, had told the three-day hearing in Welshpool that their canoe overturned after he took a wrong turn while they tried to make their way downstream in Hay-on-Wye.
Mr Clayton, of Featherstone, West Yorkshire, told the three-day hearing that the canoe overturned after he took a wrong turn in the river while they tried to make their way downstream in Hay-on-Wye. The father from Featherstone, West Yorkshire, he said he was able to reach his son, but Billie was not found until it was too late.
Decision In the 21st Century we ought to be able to balance risk, adventure and safety Ian Clayton speaking outside the inquest
He described the agonising dilemma of which of his two children to save first. She was later pronounced dead at Hereford General Hospital.
He said his son Edward was left clinging on to the branches of a felled tree while there was no sign of his daughter, who he suspected was under the overturned canoe stuck upstream. During a lengthy summing up, coroner Mr Maddox issued a seven-page summary of the evidence and findings which carried an 11-point list of proven facts for use by a future review body.
Mr Clayton told the inquest on Monday: "Did I make the right decision? He described the present system as "too relaxed and potentially confusing".
"I don't know and I suppose I will never know. Should I go for the one I can see and hope that later I can find the one I can't see?" He said he would write to the Adventure Activities Licensing Service (AALC) and the Health and Safety Executive, to which it is answerable, suggesting rules governing canoe hire undergo a full review.
The inquest also heard from owner of a company who rented the canoe to the Claytons. Following the inquest, Mr Clayton criticised the canoe-hire industry.
Wayne Sheppard, from Brecon, set up the canoeing company with his friend Derek Price after enjoying canoeing with his own family. "We live in times of increased awareness about health and safety issues yet it seems to me that any Tom, Dick, Harry or fly-by-night merchant can take money to hire out their canoe without regulation," he said.
Mr Sheppard said he had no idea the conditions were so bad that day on 12 April 2006. 'Balance risk'
Submerged tree "If I am a customer of a canoe hire company, I'm expected to have some knowledge of how to keep safe, how to paddle and what to do in case of capsizing.
"If I had thought it was dangerous, I wouldn't have let you on the river, Mr Clayton. That's gospel," Mr Sheppard said at the second day of the hearing on Tuesday. "Yet if I wish to hire out that canoe, I don't even have to know which end of the paddle to put into the water. "Now, I don't believe you can ever have 100% safety and in physical activity there always has to be an element of risk for an adventure to be an adventure.
"I've got children of my own. I've got grandchildren of my own." "But in the 21st Century we ought to be able to balance risk, adventure and safety."
A couple canoeing on the same stretch of river had capsized a week earlier, the inquest was told. After the inquest the British Canoe Union and Welsh Canoeing Association released a statement.
Christopher Boulter, from Crickhowell, Powys and his wife said they got into difficulties after a strong current took them towards a submerged tree trunk they had been warned about, causing the boat to overturn. It said: "As both a sport and recreation, canoeing boasts an exemplary heath and safety record together with a strong and flourishing activity base of participants covering all ages and abilities.
Meanwhile, retained firefighter Richard Wildee, based in Hay-on-Wye, was part of a team who launched a rescue boat to search for Billie. "The incident involving the death of Billie Clayton was extremely unfortunate and rare. It would be inappropriate to pass any comment in the absence of the coroner's conclusions.
He described how his colleague found a buoyancy aid after spotting a submerged paddle near bushes on the riverbank. Much has been made of the absence of a licensing system for providers of canoe hire equipment.
More follows... "It is impossible to conclude that such a system, if it existed, would have prevented the incident on the Wye.
"It should be remembered that, like any outdoor activity, canoeing is an assumed-risk sport, and that generally canoeing is as safe as the participant makes it."