Schoolgirl Kyra Hill drowned at a water park in Windsor, during a birthday party after she was reported missing and was only found almost two hours later.
A judge previously fined Liquid Leisure Windsor £80,000 and ordered them to pay £30,000 costs – ruling that measures put in place at the water park caused a “high-risk of death.”
On Wednesday, Berkshire Coroner Heidi Connor said: “I’m fairly confident in saying not every coroner would make the decision to resume in this case.
“I did think it was the right thing to do.”
Ms Connor, speaking at Reading Coroner’s Court), added there were some issues remaining for an inquest and she must consider her Regulation 28 powers also.
READ MORE: Liquid Leisure fined £80k after schoolgirl died at waterpark
Croydon schoolgirl Kyra got into difficulty in a designated swimming area of the water park and emergency services were called at 3:55pm, with Kyra being found at 5:10pm.
The child was rushed to Wexham Park Hospital, Slough, Berks., and pronounced dead later that day.
Angus Withington, a representative for Liquid Leisure, said activities of wake-boarding, water-skiing and wake-surfing – all behind a powered boat – are available at the park.
There is also a provision for open water swimming for over 18’s when they are towing a buoyancy aid.
There is no activity in the beach area of the facility, it has not been reopened and there are no plans to re-open it, the coroner heard.
Liquid Leisure Windsor admitted one count of an employer/self-employed person failing to discharge general health/safety duty to person other than employee on February 29 last year.
Kyra Hill
The park was prosecuted by Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council – following the incident on August 6, 2022.
Sentencing Liquid Leisure, Judge Heather Norton said at the time: “A child or even an adult could have been lulled into a false sense of security and made assumptions about the depth of the water until they were out of their depth.”
Prosecutor Laura Phillips said: “Given the lack of any emergency plan for such a scenario, Liquid Leisure’s reaction was confused, chaotic and wholly ineffective.”
Bernard Richmond, representing the family at the pre-inquest review today/yesterday (Wed), questioned the planning of the day by other parents who organised the tragic trip.
He said: “The family understood she (Kyra) was going to the other attractions where wearing a life jacket was compulsory and it will be relevant in our submission.”
Mr Richmond said the coroner should hear from those people about preparation and planning of the day and why they thought going to the beach area was a safe thing to do.
READ MORE: Kyra Hill: Inquest heard cause of death was drowning
He added being at the beach area was not part of the identified plan for the day.
Coroner Ms Connor said it was an example of something that matters but it is not relevant for answering the four statutory questions.
She added that at the moment it is unlikely the the proceedings will result in an Article 2 inquest.
A pre-inquest review was set for April 15 this year but the coroner acknowledged it is likely the hearing won’t be required.
The full inquest was scheduled for May 13 to 16 this year.