Case Summary: Jason Bibby

CASE SUMMARY

Jason Bibby was 8 years old when he drowned on Sunday 4 March 2001 at Herringthorpe Leisure Centre. The Centre was operated by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.  Mr Mark Bibby, Jason’s father, described how he was preparing to leave the pool after a swimming trip with his three children and another family. He said he had left his son for just two minutes sitting by the side of the pool when he turned to see Jason's lifeless body face down in the water. Jason had dived into the deep end and did not resurface. He was not detected by lifeguards and died from drowning.

Inquest into the death of Jason Bibby (2003) (10 February, unreported)

The inquest took place w/c 10 February 2003, nearly two years after Jason’s death. The two-day inquest was heard by a jury. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death. The Coroner, Stanley Hooper criticised the conditions and design of the swimming pool which had led to visibility black spots. Concluded that they did not ultimately contribute to the drowning and recorded a verdict of accidental death. Coroner Stanley Hooper said:

These causes of concern cannot be linked with the unfortunate death of Jason Michael Bibby. The little chap died because he decided to be adventurous. He decided to jump into the swimming pool when really he should not have done so and whilst his father was tending to other children.

The Inquest heard how a lifeguard control tower used for supervision had visibility blackspots and that the centre was reliant on casual staff; the effect being that many lifeguards were inexperienced (BBC 2003b). Mr Jonathon Enderby was the lifeguard on duty on the day of the accident with responsibility for the deep end. Mr Enderby was 20 years old at the time of the incident and had only eight days' lifeguarding experience.

Geoff Eagle, for Rotherham Council, said:

Once again we would like to send our sympathies to Jason's family and friends. Although the conditions at the pool did not cause Jason Bibby's death a number of areas for improvement have been implemented at Herringthorpe Leisure Centre.

The family solicitor, Stephen Smith, said:

The family is quite convinced that had people been in the right place at the right time, this terrible incident could have been avoided.

 

R v Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and Jonathan Enderby [2003] (Rotherham Magistrates Court, unreported)

A week after the inquest returned a verdict of accidental death, the HSE announced it would prosecute Rotherham Council and the lifeguard Mr Enderby. The case appeared at Rotherham Magistrates Court in front of Deputy District Judge Carl Teper. The HSE cited deficiencies in the pool design and the number of lifeguards on duty

Prosecutor Alex Offer told the judge how Mr Enderby was clearly not paying attention to what was going on in the pool (Stokes 2003). Mr Enderby had been suspended following the incident and later resigned. At the time of the trial was working as a barman. Mr Enderby’s solicitor, Mr David Lake, told the court that he had found the experience “traumatic” (Stokes 2003). Mr Enderby was 22 years old at the time of sentencing and pleaded guilty to a breach of s.7 HSWA 1974. DDJ Carl Teper fined Enderby £500.

Rotherham Council also pleaded guilty to a breach of s3(1), HSWA 1974. DDJ Carl Teper fined the council £5,000 plus £6,000 costs. At the time of sentencing, Jason’s parents were considering pursuing a civil claim for damages against the council for the death of their son.

Following the prosecution over Jason’s death, the Rotherham council invested £130,000 to improve the pool design and employed more lifeguards (BBC 2003a). The Council announced on 15 January 2004 that despite the £130,000 spent on the leisure centre since the accident, the cost of additional work to the building to the sum of £800,000 was unfeasible. The Council took the decision to close the building and build a new site on St Anne’s Road. Mr Andrew Bedford, a director responsible for leisure provision, said: 

There are severe problems that need to be fixed from a health and safety point of view because the safety of the public and our staff is paramount.

References (5)

_{Note: I wish those affected all the best in their future. No part of this article purports to attribute blame. See our methodology page for further details of how these case summaries are constructed.} 

_{BBC (2003). Lifeguard fined over drowning. (BBC News, 15 October 2003, 15:43). Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/3194812.stm accessed on 30 August 2020.}

_{BBC (2003). Pool boy’s death was an accident. (BBC News, 13 February, 15:52) Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2757831.stm accessed on 30 August 2020.}

_{Paul Stokes (2003). Lifeguard chatted to girl as boy drowned. (Telegraph, 16 October, 12:01). Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1444226/Lifeguard-chatted-to-girl-as-boy-drowned.html accessed on 30 August 2020.}

_{BBC (2003). Prosecutions after boy’s pool death. (BBC News, 21 February, 07:28). Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2786285.stm accessed 30 August 2020.}

_{BBC (2004). Pool closed after safety concerns. (BBC News, 15 January, 12:55). Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/3399461.stm accessed 30 August 2020.}

Citation: Jacklin, D. 2020. Case Summary: Jason Bibby. Water Incident Research Hub, 12 September.