Case Summary: Komba Kpakiwa and Josephine Foday
Nov 29, 2020CASE SUMMARY
On Saturday, 27 April 2013, Mr Komba Kpakiwa (31) and Ms Josephine Foday (22) took a romantic hotel break at the Down Hall Country Hotel, Hatfield Heath, Essex. Dating back to 1322, the Italianate mansion is set on 110 acres of historic grounds and with rooms adorned with luxury interiors and ornate ceilings. The four-star luxury hotel, owned by Veladail Hotels of Mayfair in London, also offered a 10.5-metre swimming pool, sauna, and jacuzzi. It would be this swimming pool where Komba and Josephine would together later that same day drown (Webb, 2014).
The popular luxury retreat is located on the Hertfordshire and Essex border within 45 minutes of central London and close to Stansted Airport. The hotel hosted a variety of functions, including weddings, birthday parties, christenings, and murder mystery weekends, the latter taking place the weekend of the accident (ITV News, 2013).
Komba’s wife was unaware of the relationship and was at home, where she would later receive a call to inform her of their death. Komba was a married father of two (a daughter aged 4 and a son aged 7) who met Josephine through his work as a team manager of a Co-Op store in South East London. They began going out in February 2013, just a few months before the accident. Josephine was a second-year Canterbury Christ Church nursing student. The romantic weekend at Down Hall Hotel was to celebrate her 22nd birthday. Komba and Josephine had spent Saturday shopping before both returning to their hotel room in the early evening (Rossington, 2013).
The pair were seen by other hotel guests at 19:00 on the day they arrived at the hotel, getting into the pool together (The Caterer, 2016). Neither could swim. The small hotel pool was an unusual configuration and had been in use since 1988. It measured about 10 metres by 5 metres with a 1.9 metre centre with abruptly steeply sloping slides. It would later be described as a funnel shape or grain hopper (Rossington, 2013). It had a gradient of 1 in 3.5 (The Caterer, 2016). The pool had no poolside supervision, and although it had CCTV cameras, these were not supervised by hotel staff and were broken on the day of the incident.
Mr Marcel Haniff was a key witness as he was the only person to see the pair get into the pool and later sounded the alarm when he discovered the pair thirty minutes later at 19:30. Mr Haniff, a solicitor, had arrived at the hotel a few hours earlier to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary. He and his wife went down to use the sauna shortly after 19:00. He later reported seeing the pair enter the water and would later say this at the inquest and to the court at trial (Webb, 2014; Dixon, 2014):
I saw the two people I now know to be Komba Kpakiwa and Josephine Foday, joking, splashing and shouting in the water. They were roughly in the middle of the pool when I first saw them, and I could see the head and shoulders of the gentleman facing me.
I could hear the man shouting something like "hey". The lady, whose back was to me, seemed to jump up and put his head underwater. I regret to say I thought they were just joshing about. I only had sight of them for around five seconds, but they seemed to be perfectly healthy, just joking and playing. I had read on the internet they had murder mystery weekends and I just thought it was part of an elaborate murder mystery exercise.
After spending a short time in the sauna, at 19:30, my wife and I continued to hear shouting coming from the pool. I left the sauna and walked back to the pool and I could see there were two bodies still in the water, one on the surface and the other about two thirds underwater.
I then realised because it was so still and they were so inert, that there was something seriously wrong. I said something like “bloody hell” and ran towards reception. I saw a man with a camcorder on the way there and I told the receptionist that either someone is playing a big practical joke or a terrible accident has happened. I said she needed to get down there straight away. It was a horrific, but a surreal feeling.
Hotel staff responded and head down to the pool to find Josephine lying at the bottom of the pool and Komba face down on the surface (The Guardian, 2013). Hotel staff recovered Josephine and Komba from the water and commenced CPR. They were taken to hospital but were pronounced dead shortly after.
Response from Komba and Josephine’s family
Josephine lived with her grandmother, Mrs Theresa Farma (61), in Plumstead, South London. Speaking at her home after the incident, Mrs Farma said (Evans, 2013; Rossington, 2013; Watts, 2016):
Josephine was my best friend, my angel, everyone is utterly distraught she is gone. I cannot believe she has gone. Not knowing why my granddaughter has drowned is haunting me. It is so hard not knowing exactly what happened. I do not think we will ever know, only God knows. I have tried so hard to move on, but I cry every day for my granddaughter. She was like a daughter to me, I was her only family in the UK.
She was a quiet girl who wanted to help people which had led her to study nursing. She was a lovely girl, happy and smiley. She went to church and did not drink alcohol or smoke. Josephine was from Sierra Leone but when she lost both her parents in civil war we came to the UK in 2001 to start again together.
I had met Komba a few times. I first met him here at my house, he was very nice. He was studying law and had nearly finished his study. She told me that her boyfriend was going to take her to celebrate her birthday to a Hotel as a surprise. She was excited to go. He seemed like a nice boy and they seemed very happy together. She called me on Friday to say that she had arrived at the hotel. They were supposed to come back on Sunday but instead the police came and informed me what had happened.
Komba's brother, Sahr Kpakiwa, said Josephine was a family friend and said (Evans, 2013):
What I know about my brother is that he was a nice and loyal man who was respectful of his family and always proud of them.
He looked after his family and supported them. We have a close, but large, family. We are all distraught. We are there to support his wife. My mother is flying over from her family home in Sierra Leone for the funeral and to be with the family.
Saz Aziz, a supervisor at the Co-Op where Komba worked, said Komba’s wife called to break the news of his death said:
Komba had worked here for ten years. I received a phone call on Sunday from his wife saying that he had died. I think he had two children, a seven-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl. We are all very saddened by his death.
Gurpreet Kpakiwa is struggling to come to terms with the death of Komba and was said by close friends to be “in bits” and struggling to work out what happened to Komba (Evans, 2013). Hotel guests Jo Carter and Frankie Heritage said (Tahiq, 2013):
We checked-in on Sunday afternoon for our first ever murder mystery event and just assumed the whole crime scene had been staged.
It just looked like it was all part of the build-up. We had never done a murder mystery before, so we just thought they’d gone to a lot of expense. It was only when we spoke to the policeman on the gate that he explained that two people had died that we realised it was real.
It is absolutely terrible what has happened. That is someone’s daughter and son. Last night we still had dinner, but the murder mystery didn’t take place. All guests were talking over dinner about how it could have happened.
Morven Philp told the Daily Mirror that, at first, she believed the officers in uniform were fake (Tahiq, 2013):
There were police and press at the entrance and we thought it was a fantastically realistic event. It was only then that the police told us there had been a real incident and two people were dead. The hotel had left us a voicemail message which we hadn’t picked up until we checked our phones on arrival at the hotel. They allowed us to stay the night, even though the murder mystery evening had been cancelled.
Guests Sophie Cockrill and Lucy Sparks saw police burst into a wedding reception at 19:35 (Beal, 2013):
Two officers ran through with one of the hotel staff. There were four or five police cars and four ambulances. We saw the air ambulance land before the curtain was pulled over the window and we just carried on partying.
Chris Falcus, the manager of the hotel, said staff were distraught by what had happened (The Guardian, 2013; ITV News, 2013):
We are devastated by this tragic incident and our thoughts are with the families and friends of those concerned. As soon as the alarm was raised, two of our team dived into the pool and did everything they could to try to save them. We are cooperating fully with the police investigation.
We wish to reiterate our condolences to the friends and families of the lady and gentleman concerned. Both myself and the team at the hotel are deeply upset by what has happened.
The results of the post-mortem examination have concluded that the deaths of the two people were consistent with drowning, which puts an end to inappropriate speculation about our facilities.
We wish to reiterate our condolences to the friends and families of the lady and gentleman concerned. The results of the post-mortem examination have concluded that the deaths were consistent with drowning, which puts an end to inappropriate speculation about our facilities.
Christ Church University paid tribute. Debra Teasdale, Head of the School of Health at the university, said on behalf of colleagues at Christ Church (Kent Online, 2014; Kent Online, 2013):
We were very saddened to hear about Josephine's tragic death at the weekend and our thoughts and sympathies are with her family and friends.
Josephine was a dedicated student, quiet and unassuming but loved by her friends and fellow students. She was kind, insightful and thought of other students and her friends above all else. She was a pleasure to teach, and know, and she will be sorely missed.
Investigation
Chief Inspector Nick Lee of Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate confirmed the police were not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths (ITV News, 2014; Independent, 2013):
Staff and emergency services had battled valiantly to save them. As part of the investigation, we are trying to focus on what the relationship was between the victims. This is a very unusual incident.
As part of the investigation, we are trying to focus on what the relationship was between the victims. It's a very busy hotel, there were a number of functions going on. It is a very busy hotel and there were a number of functions going on. We have not yet ascertained whether these individuals were part of any function.
Officers finished their investigations at the hotel late on Monday night and were seen taking the pair’s belongings away from the room they shared in evidence bags. Police tape cordoning off the pool house, which is separate from the main hotel, was taken down, but it is believed the facilities stayed closed to guests (Rossington, 2013). It also emerged that the pool had not been used since the deaths of Mr Kpakiwa and Miss Foday (May 2014).
One possibility being considered is that one of them got into trouble and drowned the other as they went to help, a behaviour known to lifeguards as "locked swimmers" (Davenport, 2013).
Inquest
A Coroner’s inquest was opened at New Bridge House, Chelmsford, by Deputy Coroner Eleanor McGann on Tuesday, 30 April 2013. The Coroner told the inquest that the analysis from both post-mortems was pending, and the inquest was adjourned to be heard at a later date (Evening Standard, 2013).
The three-day coroner's jury inquest, led by Senior Coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray of Chelmsford Coroner's Court, was hosted at County Hall on Tuesday, 13 May 2014. Making up the jury were seven men and four women. Widow Gurpeet Kpakiwa sat silently as she heard harrowing evidence about the death of her husband at Chelmsford Coroner's Court today, although no family were present for Miss Foday.
Forensic pathologist Dr Olaf Biedrzycki, who carried out the post-mortem examinations, told the inquest that the couple who could not swim had drowned (BBC News, 2016). Toxicology results confirmed that neither victim had drugs or alcohol in their system at the time of the tragic accident.
The jury was told a police investigation had ruled out any suspicious circumstances and water tests disproved any suggestion chemical levels in the water could have affected the pair. An engineer had been called to fix problems with the CCTV on the morning of the incident - but no temporary measures, such as a lifeguard, were put in place while it was offline.
Former hotel guest, Leonard Tabner (67), told the court how he had warned hotel bosses on 5th April 2012, a year prior to the accident, about the slope in the pool on which he had lost his footing a got into difficulty (Simpson, 2014):
I asked at the hotel's reception to use the pool and was escorted there by a member of staff who seemed more concerned that he should use the right towels rather than anything else. The member of staff said to have a good swim and left me alone.
I splashed around in the water and started to make my way towards the other end of the pool. The floor seemed to fall away from me and I went right out of my depth. The slope was too deep and I struggled to regain my footing and keep my head above the surface. There was nothing to cling on to, I could have drowned and was very shaken by it. When I got out of the pool I was in a state of shock and I asked immediately to speak to the manager.
I said to the manager that if something is not done about the pool, I can see someone drowning in that swimming pool. When my wife and I checked out, I said the same again to the manager. The manager said they would look into it, but I don’t believe any actions was taken and I wasn’t contacted by the hotel about it again.
In an ideal world, I would have followed up with a letter, but I had other things on my mind. I regret that now, obviously.
Caroline Burchall, district environmental health officer for Uttlesford District Council, revealed she had written to the hotel raising concerns with the supervision arrangements and had planned to visit the Hotel again in May 2012, just weeks after the incident occurred. Ms Burchall told the inquest (BBC, 2014; Dunmow Broadcast, 2015):
If you are going to not provide supervision, you need to carry out a risk assessment to show what provisions you will have in place, to justify not having a lifeguard on poolside. The design of the hopper pool meant the deep end sloped into the centre of the pool at a maximum depth of 2.1 metres.
I had understood there was supervision of the CCTV screens which I found out after the accident was not the case. The CCTV monitor was kept in a cupboard along with other screens and was not continuously viewed.
Uttlesford District Council will be investigating the incident and we will decide whether legal proceedings will be instigated in due course.
The inquest heard from pool safety expert, Mr Andrew Ebben, who said (The Caterer, 2014; BBC, 2014):
The design of the pool was extremely unusual. I have only seen one other such pool in 30-years of working in the sector. The pool had steep sides and a central deep end, which could be unsafe. Health and safety signs had been placed around the pool warning of its maximum depth of 2.1 metres, but vital CCTV footage of the pool had not been working at the time of the incident.
The inquest heard evidence from the Hotel's deputy general manager, Craig Vines, who confirmed the pool did not have a lifeguard, but that staff had responded once they were notified about the two guests in difficulty. Receptionist Lucy Whiffen, who was working at the front desk at the hotel at the time of the tragic deaths. She said:
I admit I failing to sign-in Mr Kpawika and Miss Foday to the pool despite it being part of hotel guidelines. The only reason I can think is I was busy doing something at the back. Often, we are busy, and guests are impatient. I would say that only 40% of guests are signed into the pool.
The next thing I saw was Mr Haniff who came to the desk and said two people were either messing around or dead. Those were the word he used.
The Inquest was concluded on 15 May 2014. The verdict of the jury was that Komba and Josephine had died accidentally. Senior Coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray said that although there were no plans at all to reopen the pool at Down Hall Hotel said remained concerned by the pool’s design and would be writing to industry bodies in case there were other pools following the same 1980s construction. She issued a Regulation 28 Prevention of Future Deaths report as follows:
I make this report under paragraph 7, Schedule 5, of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and regulations 28 and 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013.
On 29 April 2013, I commenced an investigation into the deaths of Josephine Foday and of Komba Kpakiwa. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquests on 15 May 2014. The conclusions of the inquests were Accident. Natural The cause of death for both 1a) consistent with drowning.
Both Ms Foday and Mr Komba were found floating in the swimming pool at Down Hall Country House Hotel, Hatfield Heath, Essex. Their deaths were confirmed shortly thereafter.
During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern. In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken. In the circumstances, it is my statutory duty to report to you.
The matters of concern are as follows:
1) The pool profile was inherently dangerous
2) The pool profile, including depths and gradients were not considered when carrying out the hazard identification that is required in the swimming pool guidance document HSG 179
3) The risk assessments did not cover the accurate profile information and any other specific risk factors
4) There were no lifeguards provided and the duty holders of the pool did not ensure that there were in place effective controls in place to reduce the risk of drowning
5) It did not appear that non swimmers or poor swimmers had been considered in the risk assessment process.
6) The pool operators had not sought the advice of a swimming pool expert in order to decide what would constitute adequate controls where constant pool supervision was not provided in this unusual hopper type pool. The operators were relying on CCTV as a method of supervision but this was not monitored and no system was put in its place when it became unavailable.
7) Some of the signage provided was not clear, accurate and unambiguous.
8) The pool operators did not ensure that in a pool of over 1.5m depth there were always on the premises, when the pool was open, staff trained in aquatic rescue techniques.
I have sent a copy of my report to:
Fentons Solicitors, Berrymans Lace Mawer Solicitors, Weightmans LLP, Uttlesford District Council, Specialist on Aquatic Safety techniques.
After the inquest, Mr Kpakiwa's sister, Angela Kpakiwa, said (BBC, 2014):
We feel their deaths could have been avoided if there was a lifeguard or if they had acted on the concerns when they were raised a year earlier. My family is considering legal action against the hotel and would be seeking a full apology.
R v Veladail Hotels Limited [2016] (3 January, Chelmsford Crown Court, Unreported)
Uttlesford District Council charged Veladail Hotels Limited with two counts of a breach of s.3(1) HSWA 1974 and a further count of a breach of Regulation 3 MHSWR 1999. The defendant's first appearance was at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on the 5 of February 2015. Veladail pleaded guilty to all charges against it. The court committed the case to Chelmsford Crown Court for sentence stating that its sentencing powers were insufficient (Dunmow Broadcast, 2015).
At Chelmsford Crown Court on 3 January 2016, HHJ Anthony Goldstaub QC conducted the Newton Hearing to establish the facts relevant to sentencing. Rory Clarke, prosecuting, represented the Crown. Christian Du Cann, of 39 Essex Street Chambers, represented the defendant Veladail Hotels.
The court heard that the pool had been used for children’s swimming lessons and by guests for decades (The Caterer, 2016). There had been only one significant previous incident, in 2012, reported to the Hotel by Mr Tabner (who spoke at the inquest), who had quickly got into difficulties after misjudging the sudden slope of the pool floor. That criticism was not logged. (The Caterer, 2016). Pool safety signage was displayed in the changing room and again on entering the poolside alerting swimmers to adhere to the safety warnings (The Caterer, 2016).
The court also heard that the Hotel had a signing-in procedure for the pool door access code, which was not consistently enforced, particularly at times when the reception was busy. There was poolside CCTV covering the pool, but the monitor was kept in a cupboard with the door normally closed. On the day of the accident, the CCTV cameras were not working (The Caterer, 2016).
Contractors to Veladail had submitted health and safety audit reports in 2010, 2011 and 2012, which flagged urgent concerns which were not acted upon. The HSE guidance (HSG179) stated the profile and depth of the pool indicated there ought to be poolside supervision (The Caterer, 2016). Mr Andrew Ebben, a pool safety expert, told the court that a swimmer would not be able to get any firm footing on the slope. The expert said that gradients should not exceed 1:15, but the Down Hall pool had a gradient of between 1:2 and 1:4 (Dunmow Broadcast, 2015).
Christian Du Cann, mitigating for Veladail, said (The Caterer, 2016; BBC News, 2016):
The hotel group regrets the utter tragedy of two young fit people who died in circumstances which are almost unimaginable. The Hotel has accepted the breaches which this case concerns and reminds the court that it has been accepted by all parties that those breaches cannot be said to have caused the death of the couple.
The court was told that the Veladail group has assets of £100m and the four-AA-star, 99-bedroom Down Hall hotel is worth £12m. Occupancy rates dropped from 76% to 67% following the two deaths on 27th April 2013 and the hotel's profitability fell from just over £500,000 to just under £50,000 as a result of the tragic event.
The swimming pool was closed for a significant period following the accident to allow the Hotel to take the appropriate advice and make the adjustments necessary. The pool has since been removed and replaced by a new spa facility.
Passing sentencing, HHJ Anthony Goldstaub QC said (BBC News, 2016; The Caterer, 2016):
Veladail Hotels had a culture of not dealing with the health and safety issues which were made known to it. The defendants did not lay down, monitor and enforce a clear and practical structure for the management of health and safety at their hotel. There was a systemic culture of complication and confusion which resulted from the way the business was structured from boardroom to hotel managers and staff.
The management of health and safety matters was imprecise and diffuse, and the roles and responsibilities of the various managers and organisations involved were not clearly defined, clearly understood and forcefully pursued. There was no individual within the defendant’s business who had a grip on safety policies and procedures. The defendant had tried to use contractors Hygcam Ltd and 4SIGHT Risk Management Ltd to support them. They had completed risk assessments of the pool and had raised concerns which the defendant then ignored.
Using contractors to support the business with its health and safety needs is fair enough, but the defendant failed to direct and co-ordinate the help that was provided and act efficiently to close out improvements. The firm just did not have a grip of safety procedures and processes.
No one has been able to establish with any certainty how two young, fit and healthy individuals could drown at the same time; as they couldn’t at the Coroner’s inquest. I cannot find that the tragic deaths were caused by the failings of the defendant. I accept that it is possible that the swimmers were somehow taken by surprise by the gradient of the pool floor before they drowned. But it is not, in my judgement, a probability, particularly as they were two persons drowned at the same time. It seems very difficult to imagine how two people can simultaneously become surprised and in difficulty by reason of the pool's profile alone.
If I had been able to conclude that any of those breaches had caused the deaths of Mr Kpapika or Ms Foday, then the punishment I would impose would be substantially increased; because the harm resulted in the loss of two lives.
I have heard the mitigation advanced on behalf of council for the defendant Mr Du Cann. I take account of the damage suffered to the defendant’s reputation and the financial loss suffered by the hotel. I note the asset position of the defendant and make the appropriate reduction for the guilty plea offered by the defendant.
I fine Veladail Hotels Limited £200,000 plus £30,000 prosecution costs.
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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.
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Citation: Jacklin, D. 2020. Case Summary: Komba Kpakiwa and Josephine Foday. Water Incident Research Hub, 29 November.
