Kyra Hill unlawfully killed at Berkshire water park

An 11-year-old girl who drowned during a birthday party at a water park in Berkshire was unlawfully killed following gross breaches in health and safety, a coroner has concluded.

Kyra Hill got into difficulty in a designated swimming area at Liquid Leisure near Windsor on 6 August 2022.

An inquest at Berkshire Coroner’s Court in Reading was told how Kyra, from Croydon, south London, was found more than an hour after emergency services were first alerted.

The owner of the park was fined £80,000 in June 2024.

Breaches included the lack of an emergency plan or a risk assessment, the inquest heard.

The only warning signs related to shallow water, despite depths reaching 4.67m (15.3ft) in parts of the swimming area, senior coroner Heidi Connor said.

A 17-year-old lifeguard spotted Kyra struggling at about 15:20 BST on 6 August 2022 and dived in after her, before leaving the water to tell colleagues.

A manager quickly attended, but emergency services were only called 37 minutes afterwards, Mrs Connor said previously.

A diver missed several calls and he enter the water in an effort to find Kyra at about 16:30, finding her at about 17:10.

Life jackets were only required for children aged three to five at the water park, or for those who were not competent swimmers.

Her father, Leonard Hill, fought back tears as he read a pen portrait of his daughter at the inquest on Tuesday.

“Kyra was a beautiful, beaming beacon of light in the lives of all who were fortunate enough to know her”, he said.