Peterborough teen died after jump into cold lake, inquest hears

A teenager died from drowning after voluntarily jumping into a cold lake, an inquest has heard.

Emergency services were called to the Crown Lakes Country Park near Peterborough following reports of a boy getting into difficulty in the water at about 16:00 BST on 3 April.

The body of Jack Lloyd,16, was recovered from the water just after midnight the following day by police divers.

Coroner Simon Milburn said that based on the evidence Jack was seen “struggling as soon as he hit the water and was flapping his hands”, adding that his body was likely to have gone into cold water shock.

A video recording of the incident on a friend’s phones was mentioned at the hearing in Huntingdon.

The coroner said it showed that Jack, a student at Peterborough College, had gone to the lakes, at Farcet, with couple of friends.

According to the video evidence, he “jumped off voluntarily” and was seen struggling after entering the water and went into “shock”.

He “subsequently submerged and did not resurface”, the inquest heard.

Mr Milburn said there were “no injuries or marks on Jack’s body to suggest anything suspicious”.

The coroner said Jack’s body was recovered from water which had a depth of 11m (36ft).

He was identified by Cambridgeshire police officer Sgt Thomas Hughes at the scene at 00:14 from photographs handed out by the family earlier in the day as part of the missing person inquiry.

Pathologist Dr Saddler confirmed the cause of death was drowning.

A toxicology report on Jack’s blood samples gave “no significant findings”, the coroner said.

A further pathology report from Dr John Grant, of Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, said cold water could cause shock and involuntary inhalation which could cause drowning. It could also cause a heart attack and cardiac arrest.

Mr Milburn said the water was “likely to be very cold” as it was early April.

The site is managed by RDS Safety Management Ltd on behalf of owners O and H.

The inquest was told swimming or public access to the lakes was restricted with “deep water” warning signage around the beauty spot.

Mr Milburn said a statement was sent in by RDS since the incident, suggesting updates to the signage around key areas with “warnings about the risks of going into cold water”.

Mr Milburn said the evidence was “straight forward”.

He concluded the inquest by paying his condolences to Jack’s father Darren Lloyd and his partner Gemma Kirk, who were at the inquest.

Since his death, Jack’s family have started a campaign to raise awareness around the risks of swimming in cold, open waters and are raising funds for a youth club in his name, which has been given £4,000 so far.

Mr Lloyd said he wanted people to “believe in my campaign”, adding that it was “important to share Jack’s story — that could help save lives”.