Leisure group facing prosecution
A leisure and fitness chain is to be prosecuted after a three-year-old boy drowned in one of its swimming pools in Leeds.
Rocco Wright died after being found in the pool at the David Lloyd centre in Moortown in April 2018. A jury inquest at Wakefield Coroner’s Court has now ruled his death was accidental.
Following the inquest hearing Leeds City Council said it believed the group had breached health and safety laws and intended to “prosecute in the near future”.
The council released a statement, which says: “The death of a child in any circumstances is tragic, and we continue to offer the Wright family our sincerest sympathy.
“We will keep in regular contact with the family and ensure they are informed and supported throughout this next stage.”
The inquest previously heard how Rocco had to be pulled from the water by his father Steven Wright.
The BBC has reported that Mr Wright described how his panic grew as he searched for Rocco before spotting him at the bottom of the main pool.
He said his son would not have got into the pool by himself, but the inquest heard that there were no witnesses or CCTV footage to explain how the boy ended up in the water.
And the hearing was told that at the time of the drowning there had only been one 17-year-old lifeguard present.
David Lloyd’s operations director Stephen Brown denied there had been cuts to the lifeguard budget at the pool. He told the inquest his company’s policy was that a maximum of 50 people in a pool could be watched by a single lifeguard.
