'No warning signs' on beach where dad and son drowned

Robin Reed (pictured) and his son Owen died on a family holiday in Australia

There were no warning signs at a beach where a father and son drowned while on holiday in Australia, an inquest has heard.

Robin Reed, 46, tried to rescue his son Owen, 17, before the pair from Blackwood, Caerphilly county, were swept out to sea in Queensland on 13 April 2025, when sea conditions "turned in an instant".

At a joint inquest at Gwent Coroner's Court, Michael Evans and his wife Shayane said they had been on a day trip with the family to Round Hill Head, Seventeen Seventy, and saw "no warning signs" or "signs saying we couldn't swim there".

Concluding the inquest, area coroner Rose Farmer said both had died by misadventure.

Mr Evans, who jumped into the water with Mr Reed to try and save Owen, recalled how "one second he was there and the next he wasn't", in a statement read to the court.

"It turned in an instant, huge waves started coming in," said Mr Evans.

"The water felt like a bus hitting me, it was too rough to swim in. There was wave after wave rolling in the water," he added.

Mr Evans said he was repeatedly smashed into the rocks by the water before being rescued by a tourist. But Mr Reed and his son could not be saved.

Ms Evans said there were no danger warnings as they walked down to the beach, and the waves were not "overly big" and "at no time did I have any worries".

She recalled Owen had been standing in the water, about a metre away from two other boys, but she was not sure if a wave hit him, but she could see him "starting to drift off in a rip".

Ms Evans then saw Owen trying to swim back to the beach but "he wasn't going anywhere".

She alerted the emergency services who sent police, fire and rescue crews and a recovery helicopter to the scene, the court heard.

During the inquest, a pathologist gave a cause of death for both father and son as "consistent with drowning".

Area coroner Ms Farmer said: "Robin Reed died on 13 April from the effects of drowning whilst trying to rescue his son who had got into difficulty in the sea.

"Owen Reed died on 13 April from the effects of drowning when sea conditions worsened and he was swept out to sea."