There was a misunderstanding between parents of boy, five, who drowned

A tragic mix-up between the parents of a five-year-old boy who drowned may have led to him being unattended in the adult pool, an inquest heard.

Little Robin Van Caliskan was found face down in the pool at the Atlantic Reach holiday park just hours after his family pitched up their tent at the site in Newquay, Cornwall, on July 31, 2023.

At an inquest into Robin's death, it was heard how the family booked a swimming slot and at first Robin went with his father in the big pool while his mother and baby brother were in the baby pool.

They then moved to the children's pool before Robin's mother went for a dip back in the adult one - but she didn't know that her son had followed her. 

And that miscommunication 'misled each parent to believe that the deceased was safe with the other parent,' the coroner said, ruling that it was an accidental death.

It wasn't until they saw a group of people pulling a boy out of the water that the horror of what happened struck them.

Cemal and Ferzane Caliskan and their two children - Robin and six-month-old boy Renas - arrived at the holiday park at 2pm on August 31 last year, during the summer holidays,

Originally from Turkey, the family, who live in Plymouth, decided to go for a swim in the pool.

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When Ferzane came back from the big pool, she took some family photos on her phone only to realise that Robin wasn't there.

Both Cemal and Ferzane said the view from the baby pool into the adult pool had been obscured by the frosted partition glass which had given them the false idea that Robin was where they thought he was, when he wasn't.

The two parents then saw a group of pool users pulling a boy out of the water and administering CPR.

The inquest was told that a lad had noticed Robin lying face down at the bottom of the pool and raised the alarm.

A first-aid trained member of staff at Atlantic Reach and an off-duty police officer helped provide CPR with the first aid kit and defibrillator available on site until paramedics arrived and took over. 

Tragically, despite their efforts to bring him back for 30 minutes, Robin was declared deceased at the scene.

DC Steph Trebilcock, the officer in the case, told the inquest that Robin lost his life while unsupervised at the pool, adding: 'A misunderstanding between the parents led to Robin being unattended.' She said the boy was also not a good swimmer.

Henry Vernon, the managing director of Atlantic Reach, told the inquest that the holiday park's own health and safety risk assessment had led them to decide that no lifeguards were required.

He told the hearing that the number of people using the pool at any one time was capped at 54 and is the same all year round, whether it is a winter's day or the busy summer's holidays. At the time of the incident 46 people had been in the indoor pool including the Caliskan family.

The inquest heard how the holiday park did not have any lifeguards even though it had been recommended by Cornwall Council's health and safety department to get some at least for the busy periods of the year, following a near miss in October 2020 when an elderly gentleman was thankfully resuscitated after having a medical episode when again there were no lifeguards in place.

The inquest was told there is no legal requirement for a holiday park to provide lifeguards. 

However Ann-Marie Jameson, Cornwall Council safety officer, said that while the safety standards at the pool were adequate she told the inquest that had a lifeguard been present at the time the outcome might have been different.

Senior Coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Andrew Cox said it was an unfair assertion as it was not possible to say whether a lifeguard would have seen Robin and been able to help any more quickly as they could have been distracted by a multitude of events at the time.

Recording an accidental death conclusion the jury said: 'A miscommunication between the parents led to a brief and unintentional period of time where the deceased was unsupervised.

'There were no company staff whose role was to spot the dangers within the area or monitor safety. This included the reception staff who had no sight of the pool. This is inline with the company's policy and risk assessment. 

'The frosted glass separating the baby pool from the main pool misled each parent to believe that the deceased was safe with the other parent.'