Care home manager hit with £4k fine after two disabled residents drowned in lake

Care home manager hit with £4k fine after two disabled residents drowned in lake Alexander Wood, 43, and Alison Tilsley, 63, died when the wheelyboat they were in capsized at Roadford Lake Activity Centre, with their heavy wheelchairs dragging them under the water - Bookmark A care home manager has been ordered to pay £4,000 after two people in wheelchairs drowned when their boat capsized on a day out. Janice Sowden, 60, previously pleaded guilty to failing to provide safe care and treatment that resulted in avoidable harm to Alexander Wood, Alison Tilsley and Kate Dart. Father-of-four Mr Wood, 43, and Ms Tilsley, 63, died when the wheelyboat they were in capsized at Roadford Lake Activity Centre, with their heavy wheelchairs dragging them under the water. Ms Dart also suffered serious injury in the incident, during which Sowden, as the registered manager, was responsible for health and safety. Exeter Magistrates’ Court heard Sowden failed to assess the risks of the outing in June 2022, which involved taking six people, all of whom were wheelchair users, from Burdon Grange Care Home to the activity centre. James Marsland, prosecuting, said : “A wheelyboat, ie, a boat designed to carry wheelchair users, had been hired from the centre for a trip on the lake. “Alexander Wood and Alison Tilsley, in particular, were strapped into electric wheelchairs without any means of being released from them.” The court heard the vessel started to take on water within minutes and soon capsized. Mr Marsland said Mr Wood and Ms Tilsley were “drowned by the weight of their wheelchairs” as they pulled them under the water. He said: “Miss Sowden did not undertake any risk assessment in relation to the needs of the service users… Nor did she ensure that any such risk assessment did take place. “This is a classic case of serious negligence.” Sowden, of Beaworthy, Devon, had been appointed registered manager at the home in 2016 and was described as having previously been “caring” and “diligent” in her work. However, the court heard a “cultural complacency” developed in the home in the run-up to the incident and standards had slipped. Judge Stuart Smith said the facility had been home to “extremely vulnerable” service users and it should have been obvious to Sowden that health and safety assessments needed to be completed before the trip. He added that insufficient consideration was also given to the capabilities of staff members, one of whom could not swim, and described Sowden as “blase” about risk. The court heard Sowden went on to attempt to fabricate evidence of health and safety considerations following the incident, creating a fake checklist for the boat trip to “deceive” investigators. On Tuesday, Sowden was ordered to pay a total of £4,090, including a £190 government surcharge and £2,000 as a contribution to prosecution costs. The court heard Sowden, who has mobility issues, currently receives benefits and will likely have to retrain in order to find work again, outside of the care sector. Addressing Sowden, Judge Smith said: “This case is nothing short of devastating… The lives of two much-loved residents, Alexander Wood and Alison Tilsley, have been lost. “This was in no small part a direct consequence of your cavalier attitude to good health and safety practice. “This incident has caused immeasurable grief to the families of Alex and Alison.”