Boy's body found trapped underwater by tree - inquest

Kane Edwards, 13, died while swimming in the River Tawe near Swansea Enterprise Park in May 2022

A 13-year-old boy's body was found trapped underwater by a tree after he got into difficulty while swimming in a river with a friend, an inquest has heard.

Kane Edwards died in the River Tawe just outside Swansea Enterprise Park in May 2022.

PC Richard Petherbridge of South Wales Police said emergency services carried out a "frantic" 45-minute search, but the "extremely fast-running" and "murky" water made it impossible to save him.

A small boat was used to reach the centre of the river, where Kane's body was recovered, the inquest in Swansea heard.

The coroner's court heard Kane and his friend were first seen paddling by two passers-by, who did not pay them much attention as they said it was something a lot of teenagers do.

A short time later, Matthew Altarno said one boy ran up to him looking upset and said: "Have you seen my friend? He's gone under the water and not come up."

He called the emergency services but said the water was "too dark" to see through and was told to keep others out.

PC Petherbridge said he moved towards the centre of the river but did not go in because he knew "the current under the water was running faster than on the surface".

A police helicopter was called, but the search was kept small as the inquest heard Kane was unlikely to have drifted far.

The officer said fire crews also struggled in the fast-flowing water, with some nearly being swept away.

A member of the fire service went under the water and re-emerged saying that he had located a "tree on the bottom of the river pinning the boy under it".

The court heard that a shoe emerged and there was a shout from the river bank where Kane's family had gathered, saying that it was Kane's shoe.

Emergency services were initially given the wrong location where the boys were swimming

A post mortem examination found Kane's death was consistent with drowning.

The court heard that it was the teenager's idea to go to the river where there were three rock weirs and pools with deeper water.

The other boy said the water was "freezing", with the pathologist suggesting he would have gone into "hypo shock".

The boy also told investigators he was carried downstream by the current and the same would have happened to Kane, but he appeared to "have his foot trapped".

Kane's head could be seen going under the water, he said.

During the hearing, Welsh Ambulance Service call handler Hannah Stanley told the court it was not initially easy to identify the precise location of the incident.

The link to 'what3words' - an app which pinpoints your exact position with three unique words - did not work when she sent it.

She continued to try and find the location and analysis of the call was compliant with the relevant standards, she said.

Kane and his friend were reportedly swimming in the river in the Morriston area of Swansea

On Monday, coroner Edward Ramsay questioned the service manager of the Welsh Ambulance Service and asked if "valuable time had been lost" in establishing the location of the incident.

Mr Garner said the matter had been discussed at the ambulance service's "serious case incident forum", but it did not "meet the level of harm threshold" for a full report.

He added that as the what3words app had failed to establish a location, a passer-by had identified Wychtree Street as a nearby location.

Emergency services were initially given this as an address but it was on the wrong side of the river.

The court heard it was Kane's idea to go to the river

Mr Garner said a location automatically identified by the ambulance service's computer system was then used, however no manual alert was sent to those dealing with the incident to let them know of the change.

The new location was on the correct side of the river and Mr Garner said it was within 95% accuracy.

More questions were then asked about why the location of the incident was revisited 15 minutes into the 999 call.

This came after what the coroner described as other "important" questions, but not as important as "identifying the precise location".

Mr Garner said the computer system was "designed to ask the most pertinent questions."

The coroner also heard evidence from fire service personnel and the NHS Area Response Team about how they searched the three different pools in the area.

When Kane was located all efforts were concentrated on one location to recover him.

He was taken to the shore and advanced methods of resuscitation were used, but the coroner was told Kane never recovered.

The inquest continues.