Two wheelchair users drowned after boat capsized at Devon lake, care home charged

Burdon Grange Care Home and South West Lakes Trust face corporate manslaughter charges after two residents died when a boat capsized at Roadford Lake in 2022.

Devon care home and charity face corporate manslaughter charges over fatal lake capsize

A care home and a charitable trust have been charged with corporate manslaughter after two wheelchair-using residents drowned when a boat capsized during a day trip in Devon, The Independent reports.

Alex Wood, 43, and Alison Tilsley, 63, both died on 8 June 2022 after a wheelchair-accessible vessel began taking on water at Roadford Lake Reservoir, near Okehampton. Six people in total entered the water. A woman in her 50s sustained serious injuries.

The group had been on an outing from Burdon Grange Care Home in Beaworthy, Devon.

Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed that Burdon Grange Care Home and the Bude-based South West Lakes Trust have both been charged by postal requisition with corporate manslaughter.

The care home faces an additional charge under section two of the Health and Safety at Work Act, relating to an alleged failure to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its employees. South West Lakes Trust separately faces a charge under section three of the same Act, concerning an alleged failure to protect persons not in its employment from risks to their health or safety.

A police spokesman said the case would be heard before Bristol Magistrates' Court on 11 November, and noted that the charges followed "a lengthy and complex investigation led by Devon and Cornwall Police alongside the Health and Safety Executive and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch."

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed it had decided to pursue criminal proceedings over the deaths as well as the health and safety offences. Malcolm McHaffie, of the CPS special crime division, said prosecutors had "worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring this case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings."

"We have worked carefully with Devon and Cornwall Police as they carried out their investigation," McHaffie added. "Our thoughts remain with the families of Alison Tilsley and Alex Wood at this time."

A spokeswoman for Burdon Grange Care Home Limited described the incident as "tragic" and said the company's thoughts remained with the families of the two residents who died and with all those affected. She stated the home remained "committed to providing safe, compassionate and high-quality care" for its residents, but said it would not be appropriate to comment further while legal proceedings were active.

Source: The Independent