Robin van Caliskan

I am Andrew Cox, the Senior Coroner for the coroner area of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

On 18/9/24, I concluded the inquest into the death of Robin van Caliskan. A jury found the cause of death as 1a) Drowning. A jury recorded a conclusion of Accidental death.

On 31/7/23, Robin, who was aged five, came with his family to Atlantic  Reach holiday park in Whitecross, near Newquay for a short holiday. Later that afternoon, the family decided to go for a swim in an indoor pool. There were no lifeguards on duty. The main pool was described as busy and was close to the stipulated maximum capacity. As it was the main holiday season, the pool users included a number of children. For a brief period of time, Robin was not under the direct supervision of  his parents. He was found face down in the main pool and recovered to  the side where resuscitation was attempted. This was unsuccessful and there was recognition of life extinct at 17:55.

During the course of these inquests, the evidence has 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) A risk assessment conducted by the company that took account of existing Health & Safety Guidance concluded that it was not  reasonably practicable to use lifeguards except on the relatively  few occasions when large inflatables were permitted in the pool. 2) While there was felt to be compliance with existing minimum legal  standards, a Health & Safety enforcement officer with Cornwall Council felt this was borderline. She observed that similar sized  companies elsewhere did provide a lifeguarding service. She felt  lessons had not been learned and said that the company should be doing more.

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you [AND/OR your organisation] have the power to take such  action. I was told the company will be reviewing its risk assessment in this regard over the coming weeks in light of the evidence that came out at  inquest to consider whether there are any further steps that it may be appropriate to take.