Parents of Drowned Pupil Angry Over Inquest Verdict

THE parents of an 11 year-old boy who drowned at Thame swimming pool three and a half years ago, said after hearing the inquest jury’s verdict, said that they were ‘appalled’ by the Coroner who they accused of not giving all the available evidence to the jury.
After nine days of hearing evidence from lifeguards, teachers, swimming instructors, doctors and expert witnesses, the jury returned a verdict this afternoon of Drowning, with the follow narrative:

“At around 11.15am on July 12, 2004, at Thame Leisure Centre swimming pool, Oxfordshire, Nathan Scott Matthews was taking part in adequately supervised school swimming activities.
During an organised race, for reasons that cannot be ascertained, Nathan Scott Matthews went underwater and remained submerged until rescued. Based on the evidence we have heard, we believe this period of time to be between 30-45 secs.
Despite all reasonable efforts being made to revive Nathan Scott Matthews at poolside, in transit and at hospital, attempts were unsuccessful and Nathan Scott Matthews died at the John Radcliffe Hospital on July 12, 2004, at 12.30pm.
After considering the expert medical evidence and on the balance of probability, we were unable to identify the primary event that lead to Nathan Scott Matthews’s drowning.”

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