‘Potential for real danger’ hearing told

A court has heard there was an “obvious potential for real danger” during the sentencing of a paddleboard tour company owner after the deaths of four people.

Paul O’Dwyer, 42, Andrea Powell, 41, Morgan Rogers, 24, and Nicola Wheatley, 40, drowned while paddleboarding in “extremely hazardous conditions” on the River Cleddau, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in October 2021.

Nerys Bethan Lloyd, 39, from Port Talbot, is the former owner of Salty Dog, the now-dissolved company who operated the tour.

Ms Lloyd admitted to manslaughter last month. It was revealed she did not have the correct qualifications to run the tour.

In court today Mr Watson, prosecuting, explained there was an “obvious potential for real danger”.

He told the court that several members of the group had very limited experience.

Adding that both Nerys Bethan Lloyd and her business partner Paul O’Dwyer were “not remotely qualified”, as they only had a “basic entry level qualification” which was not suitable for the tour they led.

He explained that the pair “briefly stopped in the town centre to inspect the river” that day but “did not inspect the weir itself”, adding they knew there was a weir on that stretch of river having paddleboarded there in August.

The group of seven participants and co-instructor Paul O’Dwyer set off after 09:00 on the 30 October 2021.

The court heard there had been heavy rain in the days before and “the river was in flood conditions” with a “visibly strong current”.

“Of the eight individuals who went over the weir that day only four survived,” he said.

Mr Watson explained there were desperate attempts of “bystanders who tried to throw lifelines into the weir”.

The court heard that the intensity of the water that day “was the equivalent of two tons of water crossing the 1m of the weir crest every second”.

The weather conditions meant that the difference between water levels above and below the weir on that day would have been “a drop of 1.3m”.