Coroner urges water safety lessons after drownings

Twelve-year-old Sunnah Khan and 17-year-old Joe Abbess both drowned off Bournemouth beach

A coroner has called for water safety to be taught in classrooms after a boy and girl died in an "intense" rip current.

Joe Abbess, 17, from Southampton, and 12-year-old Sunnah Khan, from High Wycombe, drowned off Bournemouth beach on 31 May 2023.

Dorset senior coroner Rachael Griffin said a quarter of children did not have access to swimming lessons through schools.

Writing a Prevention of Future Deaths Report, she urged the government to include water safety in the national classroom curriculum.

An inquest into the deaths heard how swimmers were knocked over when the waves went "from zero to absolute chaos with no warning".

Eight other people were rescued and needed treatment from paramedics.

Air ambulances landed on Bournemouth beach following the incident

Recording a conclusion of accident, the coroner said "nothing more could have been done to prevent the tragic deaths".

In her subsequent report to the government, Ms Griffin said: "There are inherent dangers of using any form of water and it is crucial for people to have an awareness of these risks and how to manage them."

She said the national curriculum made primary schools offer lessons in swimming and self-rescue.

However, she added: "Research, which was undertaken prior to the Covid pandemic which began in March 2020, has shown that one in four children do not get access to this education.

"Further since the Covid pandemic there has been a reduction in schools’ access to swimming pools.

"The lack of providing education to children around these risks through the national classroom curriculum could lead to future deaths."

The coroner said the Royal Life Saving Society and the children’s mothers had also advocated for classroom lessons on water safety awareness and life-saving skills.

Vanessa Abbess (left) and Stephanie Williams have campaigned for improved water safety lessons in schools

Previously, Joe's mother Vanessa Abbess said children should be taught how to float on their backs in an emergency.

She told the BBC: "Joe could swim, Sunnah could swim. Sunnah's really tall for her age. Joe was so muscly and fit. He was at the gym five times a week.

"They were in a safe swimming zone on a lifeguarded beach and Joe was waist-high.

"They were strong children that were knocked off their feet. This is what frightens me that it could happen to anybody. The sea... changes incredibly fast."

In 2023, the former Conservative government said there was "no need to amend the current legislation", during a debate on the Water Safety (Curriculum) Bill which was introduced by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Storey.

The Education Secretary has a duty to respond to the coroner's report within 56 days.