Case Summary: Galleon Leisure Centre
Feb 12, 2022CASE SUMMARY
An unnamed girl, 6 years old, attended Galleon Leisure Centre in Kilmarnock on 29 July 2019 to participate in an inflatable fun session with her family. The fun session incorporated a 15-metre fun run in the main pool and a large inflatable slide that exited into the main pool (HSM, 2022).
The girl descended a large inflatable slide into 1.5-metre-deep water and was unable to get to a place of safety. The girl jumped around in the water for more than three minutes before she went under and lost consciousness. She was submerged for 49 seconds before an 11-year-old boy, Mateusz Stomski, who had been playing in the middle of the pool, dived underwater, picked her up and moved her onto the poolside whilst shouting for help. Lifeguards at the Centre then resuscitated the girl, who went on to make a full recovery.
Mateusz was later recognized for his lifesaving efforts by the Royal Life Saving Society UK. Mr Stephen Lyon told the Kilmarnock Standard (Dunn, 2022):
I was delighted to meet Mateusz and his family, and it was a pleasure to present him with a Young Persons Certificate of Commendation. Mateusz was very brave, and he exhibited the skills of someone who has completed an RLSS rookie lifeguard course. His quick actions undoubtedly contributed to the saving of a life.
It was very humbling to hear Mateusz telling the story and I don’t think he understands the significance of what he did. I wish Mateusz all the best in whatever he decides to do when he is older, but I am sure he would make a fantastic lifeguard.
The schoolgirl was playing in the pool with her big sisters during the fun swim, which sees kids negotiate an inflatable obstacle course when she got into difficulty.
Mateusz told the Standard at the time (Dunn, 2022):
I just finished a round at the fun swim and I was going to go on it again and I felt a foot touch mine. I went down to check and I saw this girl unconscious on the floor. She wasn’t moving and she didn’t seem like she was breathing but I knew I had to get her out of there.
I went down to pick her up and I saw bubbles coming out of her mouth. I brought her up and I shouted for a lifeguard and brought her to the side of the pool. I got her out of the water and the lifeguard did the CPR. It was a joint effort.
I was honestly scared in case she died. When we heard that she was okay it was a huge relief.
The girl’s mum said following the incident (Dunn, 2022):
To be perfectly honest I thought I’d lost her. I just went into panic mode. She was pretty much blue. It was very frightening, but we managed to get her round in the end.
We had never been to the Galleon before as we usually go to the swimming at Troon. But she knows her limits and she went down one of the slides in the big pool and ended up getting into difficulty.
I haven’t taken my eyes off her since she got out but she’s back to her usual happy and talkative self since getting out.
David Hasson, Acting General Manager of the Galleon Centre, said (Mowat, 2019):
An incident involving a swimmer occurred at the Galleon Leisure Centre today which resulted in the emergency services being called and the individual being taken to hospital for assessment.
In accordance with normal procedures, an internal investigation will now be carried out into this incident.
East Ayrshire Council’s Environmental Health Team brought a charge against the Kilmarnock Leisure Centre Trust for failing to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment contrary to s.3(1) HSWA 1974. The Trust had failed to carry out any lifeguard zone visibility testing or a suitable alternative to confirm that lifeguards had visibility of their zone during inflatable sessions. The Trust had also failed to deploy the inflatable as per the manufacturer’s instructions.
The Trust admitted breaching s.3(1) HSWA 1974 and entered a plea of guilty. The Trust was fined £10,000.
Alistair Duncan, Head of the Health and Safety Investigation Unit at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said following the sentencing hearing (Allison, 2022; Bryan, 2022):
This was a traumatic incident for the young girl involved. An incident, which if not for the intervention of an eleven-year-old boy, could potentially have had tragic consequences. I commend him for taking such decisive action and in so doing saving the life of the young girl.
The measures the Trust had in place at the time were insufficient to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the safety of members of the public using its pool.
Hopefully, this incident will remind other pool operators who fail to fulfil their legal obligations of the potentially tragic consequences that can follow and that they will be held to account for their failings.
A spokesperson for the Kilmarnock Leisure Centre Trust said (Pengilly, 2022):
As stated to the sheriff yesterday, the Trust would again wish to formally record, and express their sincere regret to the child, and her family, that this accident took place.
The Trust takes matters relating to health and safety very seriously and has internal arrangements in place to ensure that there is an appropriate level of oversight and governance of health and safety matters, which are dealt with at an operational level by Galleon Centre staff.
The Trust acknowledges that when accidents of this nature occur, responsibility rests with them. The Trust took immediate steps to establish the cause of the accident, and thereafter identified appropriate actions to be taken forward. They have carried out a comprehensive internal investigation and review and strengthened existing internal governance and reporting arrangements.
The Trust has co-operated fully with East Ayrshire Council’s environmental health service in their investigation of this matter, and in pleading guilty to the charge libelled against them, has accepted that there were health and safety failings at that time.
The Trust is pleased to note that the steps and actions taken by them following the accident were recognised by the sheriff yesterday in the level of fine imposed.
References (15)
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.
Allison, S. (2022). Kilmarnock leisure centre trustees fined following pool incident. (4th February). Available at: https://planetradio.co.uk/west/local/news/kilmarnock-leisure-centre-trustees-fined-following-pool-incident/ accessed 10th February 2022.
Bryan, A. (2022). Kilmarnock leisure centre trustees fined, after incident where 6-year-old girl nearly drowned in pool. (3rd February, 21:03). Available at: https://www.scotsman.com/news/crime/kilmarnock-leisure-centre-trustees-fined-after-incident-where-6-year-old-girl-nearly-drowned-in-pool-3554670 accessed 10th February 2022.
Dunn, R. (2022). Brave Kilmarnock schoolboy who rescued girl from drowning is handed top award. (Daily Record, 4th February, 10:36; first published 3rd October 2019, 09:25). Available at: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/ayrshire/brave-kilmarnock-schoolboy-who-rescued-20393406 accessed 11th February 2022.
Dunn, R. (2022). Drowning scare at Kilmarnock’s Galleon Centre after child is given CPR. (Daily Record, 4th February, 10:36; first published 29th July 2019, 16:50). Available at: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/ayrshire/drowning-scare-kilmarnocks-galleon-centre-18796378 accessed 11th February 2022.
Dunn, R. (2022). Heroic Kilmarnock schoolboy saves girl from drowning at Galleon pool. (Daily Record, 4th February, 10:35; first published 6th August, 16:49). Available at: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/ayrshire/heroic-kilmarnock-schoolboy-saves-girl-18850655 accessed 10th February 2022.
Dunn, R. (2022). Leisure trustees fined after girl, six, almost drowns in Galleon leisure centre pool in Kilmarnock. (Daily Record, 7th February, 16:37; first published 4th February, 10:44). Available at: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/ayrshire/leisure-trustees-fined-after-girl-26137840 accessed 10th February 2022.
HSM. (2022). Leisure centre trustees fined following pool incident. (7th February). Available at: https://www.hsmsearch.com/Leisure-centre-trustees-fined-pool-incident accessed 10th February 2022.
Love, L. (2022). Six-year-old girl saved from drowning by young boy at Scots swimming pool. (Daily Record, 4th February, 07:59). Available at: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/six-year-old-girl-saved-26136461 accessed 11th February 2022.
Mann, G. (2022). Hero schoolboy saved girl, 6, from drowning in Scots pool as leisure centre chiefs fined £10,000. (The Sun, 3rd February, 21:13). Available at: https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/8380632/hero-saves-girl-drowning-kilmarnock-pool/ accessed 10th February 2022.
Mowat, E. (2019). Young girl, 2, nearly drowns in Kilmarnock pool as lifeguard rescues tot from water and perform CPR. (The Sun, 29th July, 17:48; first published 17:45). Available at: https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/4541958/child-drowning-scare-kilmarnock-galleon-centre/ accessed 10th February 2022.
Pengilly, C. (2022). Galleon Centre. Trustees fined after girl nearly drowned. (Cumnock Chronicle, 4th February). Available at: https://www.cumnockchronicle.com/news/19900751.galleon-centre-trustees-fined-girl-nearly-drowns/ accessed 10th February 2022.
RLSS UK. (2020). Mateusz Stomski at Kilmarnock’s Galleon Centre pool. (12th June). Available at: https://www.rlss.org.uk/mateusz-stomski-at-kilmarnocks-galleon-centre-pool accessed 10th February 2022.
Scottish Legal News. (2022). Leisure centre trustees fined following pool incident. (6th February). Available at: https://www.scottishlegal.com/articles/leisure-centre-trustees-fined-following-pool-incident accessed 11th February 2022.
STV News. (2019). Child given CPR after almost drowning in swimming pool. (29th July). Available at: https://archive.news.stv.tv/west-central/1439613-young-girl-given-cpr-after-almost-drowning-in-swimming-pool.html accessed 10th February 2022.
STV News. (2022). Swimming pool trustees fined £10k after schoolgirl nearly drowned. (3rd February). Available at: https://news.stv.tv/west-central/trust-fined-10k-after-schoolgirl-saved-from-drowning-in-pool-by-boy accessed 10th February 2022.
Citation: Jacklin, D. 2022. Case Summary: Unknown - Galleon Leisure Centre. Water Incident Research Hub, 12th February.
