The warmer weather and school summer holidays encourage groups of adults and children to experience the great outdoors. As nature trips and country activities increase in popularity, one tragic incident, which ended in four deaths and a prison sentence for the activity leader, remind us that health and safety protections and precautions cannot be ignored.
Paddleboard instructor Nerys Lloyd was charged with the offence of gross negligence manslaughter and jailed for over ten years in April 2025. The sad death of four people on a paddleboarding trip on a river provides an important reminder to schools and other public sector organisations of the importance of adequate risk assessment, instructor training, participant assessment, and suitable equipment when planning outdoor activities and trips.
Also, the need to assess and adapt to conditions on the day of a planned activity and, where necessary, cancel or change plans should not be underestimated.
The prosecution of Nerys Lloyd
On 30 October 2021, four people died and four nearly lost their lives while paddleboarding on the River Cleddau and over a weir in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.
Safety
The leaders, Nerys Lloyd and Paul O'Dwyer (who lost his life in the accident), reassured participants the paddleboard trip would be easy.
Four of the group were not wearing wetsuits and one decided a lifejacket was not necessary.
There was no safety briefing beforehand, no risk assessment and none of the participants had the right kind of lead for their boards given the conditions. There were no consent forms and no assessment of the participants’ experience and abilities.
The group was not briefed there was a weir along the route or how to deal with it. There was no discussion about tidal or river conditions.
While Nerys Lloyd and Paul O'Dwyer had paddled the route several months before and were aware of the weir, the conditions on that occasion had been very different.
On the day of the incident the river was fast flowing , with weather warnings for a high risk of flooding. Over 50 mm of rain had fallen over the previous three days. An immense force of water was passing over the weir, but no assessment of the weir or river conditions was made on the day.
The weir
The weir was not visible until the group paddled close to it and no-one but Nerys Lloyd and Paul O'Dwyer knew of it. There were steps to the left leading to a path where boards and canoes could be walked round the weir, but the instructors did not direct the group to take this option.
Nerys Lloyd was the first to reach the weir. She went on her knees down the narrow fish ramp in the middle of the weir. The others did not know the fish ramp existed. Nerys Lloyd shouted to the others to go to the middle and follow her lead, but not everyone heard, and her instructions were not clear.
The group attempted to go over the weir and, but due to the force of water they were sucked into the recirculating current produced by the weir. The paddleboard ankle leads made it hard for the group to get free and three people could not escape the volume and power of the water. Paul O'Dwyer died after bravely jumping in and attempting to save three of the group who were stuck, and also sadly drowned.
Gross negligence manslaughter
Following the incident, Nerys Lloyd pleaded guilty to the offence of gross negligence manslaughter. The sentencing judge identified several failures in the planning and organisation of the trip. These included: the lack of risk assessment, equipment that was not suitable, inadequate instructions to participants, insufficient instructor training, and failure to consider and adapt to conditions.
Nerys Lloyd was sentenced to ten and a half years in jail.
Guidance on planning outdoor activities
The HSE website contains guidance on planning school trips and outdoor learning activities. It stresses the benefits of such trips, but also the importance of focusing on real risks and taking proportionate precautions to control the risks involved. This means that for trips involving lower risk activities, a more basic risk assessment may be sufficient, whereas trips involving higher risk activities will require much more detailed planning and risk assessment.
The guidance stresses the importance of:
- Putting sensible precautions in place and making sure they work in.
- Knowing when and how to apply contingency plans where necessary.
- Heeding the advice and warnings from others, for example those with local knowledge or specialist expertise.
When arranging outdoor activity trips consider these factors in your risk assessment and planning:
- The age and ability of participants.
- Consent required from participants and/or parents and guardians.
- Qualifications, competence and experience of instructors.
- Supervision ratios regarding the activity and abilities of participants.
- Method of delivery of instructions to participants.
- Suitability of equipment for participants, activity and conditions.
- Arrangements for monitoring conditions and adaptations that may be required, dependent on conditions and circumstances – for example a Plan B or Plan C.
- Whether specialist or local advice may be helpful.
- There are relevant licences for adventure activity providers.
- How arrangements will be monitored - administratively and in the field.
