Case Summary: Seojin Kim
Jul 10, 2021CASE SUMMARY
Seojin Kim was 7 years old when she and her family visited Talacre Beach Caravan and Leisure Park. The family had travelled from their home in Harborne, near Birmingham (Business Live, 2012). Seojin had not long moved from Korea and was experiencing one of her first British seaside holidays with her family.
A description of the park read (Wales Online, 2013):
Talacre Beach static caravan holiday homes offer a haven among well-tended grounds and tree-lined avenues away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. With a vast range of superb indoor facilities and activities, it is the perfect family retreat.
Parents and grandparents can relax while children enjoy fun-filled weather-proof days. The park has an indoor tropical swimming pool where dozens of children take part in water games, swimming lessons and other pool activities.
The park has won numerous tourism awards including accolades from the Wales Tourist Board, Wales in Bloom and the David Bellamy Gold Award for conservation.
On Saturday 2nd October 2010, whilst the family used the swimming pool, Seojin drowned. Efforts to resuscitate Seojin by lifeguards and a doctor who was using the swimming pool at the time of the accident were unsuccessful. Just over 1-hour after being recovered from the water, Seojin was pronounced dead at 16:58 at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan.
A park guest who had been visiting the site for years said:
My two children were swimming there yesterday afternoon. There are always plenty of lifeguards on duty. It is a safe and shallow pool used for fun more than swimming. Everyone is feeling terribly sad for the family. Some guests have gone home early.
Another guest said:
We were not here when it happened but when we got back, we could see people going around looking really sad. The atmosphere has been very subdued. It is a horrible shock for the family and everyone here.
A Flintshire County Council spokesman said (BBC News, 2010):
Our deepest sympathies and condolences go to the family of the little girl who died.
However, it would not be appropriate to comment on the specific circumstances whilst the formal investigation into this tragic event is underway.
Officers from the council's Public Protection Service are working closely with colleagues from North Wales Police and will undertake a thorough and comprehensive investigation.
A police spokesman said:
The child from the West Midlands, who was on holiday with her family, was taken by ambulance to Glan Clwyd Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
The death is not being treated as suspicious.
Mr James McAllister, Deputy Managing Director of Talacre Beach Caravan Sales, said that we wished to give a statement on behalf of the company, which had been approved by the girl's family:
At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with the family. The family have appealed for respect for their privacy at this time of their sad loss.
We are doing everything we can to assist the authorities with their inquiries into this tragic accident. We are unable to comment further at this time, as you can imagine.
The pool remained closed on Sunday before re-opening a few days later.
Coroner’s inquest (2010) (Northeast Wales Coroners Court, Wrexham, 4 October)
The Coroner’s inquest opened at North East Wales coroner's court in Wrexham on 4 October 2010. Deputy Coroner for North Wales Central, John Gittins, gave the cause of death as drowning.
Charging
In August 2012, following a joint investigation by North Wales Police and environmental health officers from Flintshire Council, Plas Coch Holiday Homes Limited (“the Park”), formerly known as Talacre Beach Caravan Sales Limited, was charged with a breach of s.3(1) HSWA 1974 and Regulation 3 MHSWR 1999.
R v Plas Coch Holiday Homes Limited (2013) (27 March, Mold Crown Court, Unreported)
The Park appeared at Flintshire Magistrate’s Court in August 2012 and pleaded guilty to a breach of s.3(1) HSWA 1974 and Regulation 3 MHSWR 1999, but contested that the breaches alleged had not caused the death of Seojin.
Christopher Moss, prosecuting, told the court that the company’s basis of plea was not acceptable.
HHJ Nicolas Parry agreed that the basis of the plea would make a difference to the sentence and ordered a Newton Hearing to take place. He ordered that both sides prepare to present evidence, including from their expert witnesses, and provide the court with a list of issues to be determined.
The case was adjourned until 25 November 2012, when a date for the Newton Hearing would then be fixed.
At the Newton Hearing on 26 March 2013, HHJ Nicolas Parry said that despite the two guilty pleas, the cause of her death was still unresolved. The case was committed to the Crown Court for sentencing on the basis the issue remained unproven.
At the sentencing hearing at Mold Crown Court in November 2013, Christopher Moss, prosecuting, told the Court (Business Live, 2013; BBC News, 2010; Wales Online, 2013):
Seojin was in a baby pool with her father and others when her father left to go to the toilet. She walked down the steps from the baby pool and headed towards the main pool. It is apparent she quickly got into difficulties. She was then observed thrashing about before slowly going under the water.
A member of the public, Mr Lee McCoy, saw a child in a red and white swimming costume on the bottom of the pool and raised the alarm. Lifeguards and a park guest who was a qualified doctor attempted to resuscitate Seojin.
An ambulance and a rapid response vehicle were sent to the park at 15:40 and arrived within eight minutes. Seojin was pronounced dead at 16:58 at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan.
Mr Moss went on to say:
The gradient was much steeper than the published guidance advises. A maximum gradient of 1-in-15 is recommended and the gradient was in fact 1-in-3.
Bernard Thorogood, defending, said:
The pool had been built in 1984 before any guidelines on the gradient relied on by the prosecution had been issued. The pool had an annual inspection from Flintshire County Council and the issue with the gradient had ever been raised.
The lifeguards on-duty had been trained and there were notices about the risk to unsupervised children. While documentation may have been defective, the lifeguard on duty had been fully trained and had a direct view of the pool.
The park's brochure advises all children aged eight years and under who use the indoor heated pool must be accompanied in the water by a responsible adult swimmer over the age of 16 years at all times.
The former operators of the park, Talacre Beach Caravan Sales, now known as Plas Coch Holiday Homes, had co-operated fully and responded swiftly to implement changes. A total of £50,000 had since been spent on redesigning the pool which made the floor completely flat. The Park is now under new ownership.
The company places great emphasis on health and safety. The directors wished to express their great sadness and sympathy for Seojin’s family. HHJ Nicholas Parry said:
The park swimming pool comprised of a small baby pool which was 0.5 metres deep and a larger pool ranging from 1.2 to 1.8 metres deep. The two pools were divided by steps. What happened in a matter of some 90 seconds was every parent’s worst nightmare. From arriving at the pool and playing safely in the baby pool with two other children under the supervision of her father, Seojin was momentarily unsupervised as her father went to the toilet.
During those brief, fateful minutes Seojin walked down the steps from the baby pool which gave access into the adjoining adult pool. As she proceeded into the deep water she very quickly got into difficulties. A member of the public saw that she was not moving at the bottom of the pool. Despite the best efforts of others, she was pronounced dead in hospital.
It need perhaps not be stated that no one wishes more than her father that the clock could be turned back. It is sad to have to record that on this occasion adequate adult supervision over her movements during those fateful few minutes was not provided. Seojin had been just weeks away from her eighth birthday.
The prosecution case rests on three key allegations:
a. The pool floor gradient was excessive
b. The lifeguard provision was inadequate
c. The defendant knew of the risk presented by the steep gradient because of 18 similar incidents that occurred over a three-year period and 60% of all incidents at the pool occurred on or around the slope
No environment is entirely risk free and the law does aim to create that. The prosecution has not proven a connection between the breaches and Seojin’s death.
The company had a duty of care to Seojin. Swimming pools are dangerous places for young children. Those who take them to the pool and those who manage the pool must do everything they reasonably can to avoid the risk that a child may drown.
While the company is entitled to expect children to be properly supervised, it must anticipate that on occasions small children have escaped their parent and will do so again. In this case, the assessment of that risk and the controls in place to mitigate against it were not sufficient.
I accept, in mitigation, that the holiday company had a proactive culture towards health and safety issues and had a previously unblemished health and safety record. It was to her father’s credit that he did not seek to blame or punish anyone for his loss. He seeks only that lessons be learnt to hopefully prevent the occurrence of a similar tragedy.
No penalty can nor is intended to reflect the value of that tragic loss of human life. Rather it is intended to be punitive, to reflect the extent to which the defendant fell below the required standard.
Individual life is incapable of valuation. The life of seven-year-old Seojin was literally invaluable to those who loved her and miss her. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to her family. No penalty can or is intended to reflect the value of that tragic loss of human life.
Plas Coch Holiday Homes were fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £32,500 in prosecution costs. Flintshire council, which brought the prosecution, said:
This has been a long and complex investigation and our sympathy lies with the family of Seojin Kim who tragically lost her life whilst holidaying in Flintshire. The family is thanked for its forbearance, and it is hoped that this outcome will enable them to close this tragic chapter and feel justice has been carried out.
References (26)
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. 2021. Case Summary: Seojin Kim. Water Incident Research Hub, 10 July.
