One tragic detail prevented parents from realising boy, 5, was drowning in holiday pool

Robin Caliskan was found at the bottom of the indoor pool at the Atlantic Reach Holiday Park, near Newquay, Cornwall, by members of the public, after going for a swim with his family

The parents of a five-year-old boy who drowned in a swimming pool on holiday were tragically unaware their son was in difficulty.

Cemal Caliskan thought little Robin Caliskan was with his wife Ferzane - the child's mother - in the larger pool, while he was in the baby pool with his other child. However, Robin was found dead by a member of the public at the Atlantic Reach Holiday Park, near Newquay, Cornwall - and the frosted glass separating the two pools misled both Mr Caliskan and his wife.

Each parent believed Robin was safe with the other parent, his inquest heard. Despite members of the public and paramedic's attempts to resuscitate Robin, he was pronounced dead at the scene in July last year.

Robin became separated from the rest of his family during the swimming trip on the first day of a three-day camping stay at the resort. His inquest today in Truro heard Atlantic Reach did not employ lifeguards at the swimming pool and there was no legal requirement to do so.

A post-mortem examination found Robin, from Plymouth, Devon, died from drowning, and an inquest jury returned a conclusion of accidental death. The jury said: "A miscommunication between the parents led to a brief and unintentional period of time where the deceased was unsupervised,” the jury said.

“There were no company staff whose role was to spot the dangers within the pool area or monitor safety. This included the reception staff who had no sight of the pool. This is in line with the company’s policies and risk assessments.

“The frosted glass separating the baby pool from the main pool misled each parent to believe the deceased was safe with the other parent. The deceased was found unresponsive in the busy pool environment by another pool user and was then removed from the pool by members of the public who initiated basic life support and also alerted reception staff."

During the inquest, Robin’s father, Mr Caliskan, said he thought his son was with his mother in the larger pool, while he was in the baby pool with his other child.

“Robin was just playing there, my wife was heading to the big pool and Robin said ‘Can I go please?’,” Mr Caliskan, who is originally from Turkey, said.

“He wanted to go with my wife, his mum, and I said ‘OK, but you need to stay with your mum, go with your mum’. Then he followed my wife. It was so crowded in the big pool I can’t be 100% sure if Robin was following my wife or beside her. I could just see my wife and there was a child next to my wife and I thought that was Robin.”

He added: “I was sure he was with her.” The inquest was shown photos of signs put up at the pool, including sets of rules posted in the men’s and women’s changing rooms, which said: “No lifeguard on duty”, with another sign stating the rule at the poolside.

The hearing heard there had been a near miss previously, when an elderly man suffered a medical episode while using the swimming pool.

Anne Marie Jameson, a health and safety enforcement officer at Cornwall Council, said there was no legal obligation to have lifeguards, and the holiday park was not prosecuted after Robin’s death.

“They meet the minimum standards currently. It is minimum standards, however, given they have had one fatality and one near fatality I would expect the company to do much more than they are,” she said.

“In my opinion there is the risk of future deaths. The park has the duty of care to risk assess the premises, but I cannot and do not have the enforcement powers to request to put lifeguards on.

“There is no legal requirement to have lifeguards. However, a business that is so busy, not to have pool attendants within their risk assessment processes is a little bit strange, it is unusual, but that doesn’t mean it is illegal.”

Andrew Cox, senior coroner for Cornwall, said he would be writing a preventing future deaths report to Atlantic Reach because of his “ongoing concerns”.

“Drowning in general is something I see. It is more unusual to see it in a pool setting, which is a more controlled environment than the sea or the coast,” he said.

“I am going to find there are ongoing concerns here that I need to address. I will write a report to Atlantic Reach, but it will not be saying they must employ lifeguards.

“I will be saying they need to review their risk assessment in light of the evidence at the inquest and they need to assess whether there is a need for a lifeguard service to be introduced at particular times in the future.”