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Daily Mail
01-05-2025
- Daily Mail
'Arrogant' unqualified instructor who was jailed for leading four paddleboarders to their deaths was sacked from police for insurance fraud
A paddleboard instructor who led four people to their deaths in a swollen river was previously sacked as a policewoman after committing insurance fraud. Nerys Lloyd was jailed for 10 years and six months after four people died on the Cleddau River in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in October 2021. The 39-year-old had organised a stand-up paddleboarding tour on the river despite 'extremely hazardous conditions' and weather warnings in place. The weekend outing ended in tragedy when paddleboarders Morgan Rogers, 24, Nicola Wheatley, 40, Andrea Powell, 41, and co-instructor Paul O'Dwyer, 42, all died after they were dragged over the raging water on the weir. Following her sentencing earlier this month, it has emerged that Ms Lloyd was previously sacked from her role as a firearms officer at South Wales Police for a fraudulent insurance claim. In January 2022, at an Accelerated Misconduct Hearing, Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan found that Lloyd had breached professional behaviour standards and should be dismissed. Lloyd had made a fraudulent claim against the police insurance scheme in relation to the cost of repair to her own vehicle. While the repairs to her car cost in the region of £16 to £20 the subsequent insurance claim made by PC Lloyd was for £577.55, the hearing conclusion document said. Health worker Nicola Wheatley (left) and her co-instructor Paul O'Dwyer (right) died in the tragedy South Wales Police released the previously unpublished details of the misconduct investigation and insurance fraud now that the criminal case against Lloyd, from Aberavon, has concluded. Lloyd was said to have 'admitted her wrongdoing and immediately apologised for her behaviour, stating it was an error of judgement.' The matter was reported to South Wales Police and Lloyd was then subject of a formal caution for the criminal offence of fraud by false representation contrary to sections 1 and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006, in October 2021. Lloyd repaid the money. This was just two weeks before the tragedy on the River Cleddau which saw Nicola Wheatley, Morgan Rogers, Paul O'Dwyer and Andrea Powell lose their lives. Horrifyingly the party were dragged over the 4ft weir and sucked into the churning torrent - trapped by the equivalent of nearly two tonnes of water crossing a one-metre-wide section every second. Photographs from the scene showed the large weir with a fish ramp in the middle 'only slightly wider than the width of a paddleboard' and a concrete landing platform to the side. Images taken a day after the tragedy show the foaming, swollen water at the bottom of the weir - in stark contrast to the calm condition of the river when Lloyd carried out a reconnaissance visit weeks earlier. Lloyd was able to navigate herself down the fish ramp on her board before 'one by one' each of the seven others were swept over the face of the weir and fell off their paddleboards, the court heard. Earlier this month Lloyd pleaded guilty to four counts of gross negligence manslaughter and one offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act in March, and was sentenced by Mrs Justice Dame Mary Stacey at Swansea Crown Court. Handing Lloyd a 10-year and six-month sentence, the judge told Lloyd: 'I accept you are desperately sorry for what happened that day. 'Your life has also been massively impacted. But being sorry for what happened is different from remorse.' Lloyd showed no emotion as her sentence was read out, only nodding at the judge and mouthing 'thank you'.
Daily Mail
23-04-2025
- Daily Mail
Moment unqualified instructor tells police paddleboarders 'fell in' after guiding them over treacherous weir to their deaths - as killer is jailed for 10 years
This is the moment an instructor who led four paddleboarders to their deaths in a swollen river revealed how the group 'fell in' while trying to navigate a weir. Former policewoman Nerys Lloyd, 39, organised the weekend paddleboard outing on the Cleddau River in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, which ended in tragedy in October 2021. Paddleboarders Morgan Rogers, 24, Nicola Wheatley, 40, Andrea Powell, 41, and co-instructor Paul O'Dwyer, 42, all died when they were dragged over the raging water on the weir . Lloyd had not warned the participants about the weir despite weather warnings and a flood alert being in place, nor had she given them a safety briefing, a court heard. After she was jailed for ten years and six months for gross negligence manslaughter today, the Crown Prosecution Service released bodycam video of Lloyd talking to a police officer about what had happened. The clip was captured near the location known as Fortune's Frolic, which is on the east bank of the river, several hundred metres downstream from the weir. Lloyd is heard saying: 'Channel them down to the centre point, it's a group paddle and they just didn't go down the middle, so they went over the falls and they fell in. 'Some of them went off their boards. I had to get back up, but because I was the first one down, I flew downstream and I was trying to get back to them, but I couldn't.' At the time the video was filmed, Lloyd was unaware that four people had died - and later attempted to blame her co-instructor Mr O'Dwyer, who was one of the victims. Horrifyingly the party were dragged over the 4ft weir and sucked into the churning torrent - trapped by the equivalent of nearly two tonnes of water crossing a one-metre-wide section every second. Any chance of escape from the intense pressure - which created a recirculating flow similar to a washing machine - was made even harder by the 'unsuitable' leashes attaching them to the boards, a judge said. Lloyd, a suspended firearms officer, was the owner and director of Salty Dog Co Ltd when she led the Stand Up Paddle tour on the fast-flowing river. She said 'I'm going to jail for this' just moments after finding out her co-instructor Mr O'Dwyer had died - and even attempted to lay blame on him, Swansea Crown Court heard. Photographs from the scene showed the large weir with a fish ramp in the middle 'only slightly wider than the width of a paddleboard' and a concrete landing platform to the side. Images taken a day after the tragedy show the foaming, swollen water at the bottom of the weir - in stark contrast to the calm condition of the river when Lloyd carried out a reconnaissance visit weeks earlier. Health worker Nicola Wheatley (left) and her co-instructor Paul O'Dwyer (right) died in the tragedy Lloyd was able to navigate herself down the fish ramp on her board before 'one by one' each of the seven others were swept over the face of the weir and fell off their paddleboards, the court heard. In emotional victim impact statements delivered to the court yesterday, the bereaved families criticised 'arrogant' and 'cowardly' Lloyd for her lack of remorse. Lloyd, a former firearms officer for South Wales Police, appeared in the dock wearing a white shirt and dark trousers. She stared straight ahead at the judge as her sentence was read out. Jailing her for ten years and six months, Mrs Justice Stacey said the quartet who died were 'cut off in their prime'. She said 'moving' statements from their grieving families 'I fear barely scratch the surface of their devastation at the loss of their loved ones'. Lloyd organised the weekend paddleboard outing on the Cleddau River in Haverfordwest Pictured on a calmer day, the weir on the Cleddau River in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, which claimed the lives of four paddleboarders in October 2021 Nerys Lloyd, 39, admitted the manslaughter of four paddleboarders who drowned after getting caught up in a flooded weir in hazardous conditions The judge said there were Met Office weather warnings at that time, as well as a flood alert in place through Natural Resources Wales. She highlighted how hours after the tragedy - in a conversation inadvertently recorded on her phone - Lloyd told her wife that it had been her own fault and she was 'finished'. Earlier David Elias KC, defending, said Lloyd planned to take the group to the landing platform at the side to 'get out and walk around' the weir but the water had covered the area. 'Nerys Lloyd went down the fish ramp as a last resort once she realised she had no time to do anything else,' he said. But Mrs Justice Stacey rejected the explanation, saying it was 'clear' she had intended the group to go 'through the weir'. She said co-instructor Mr O'Dwyer had raised 'valid concerns' about the plan but that Lloyd 'ignored' him. 'Your interest appeared to be more of an exciting route rather than safety,' she added. The court heard she led the paid tour as an instructor with a 'basic entry-level qualification' after advertising the trip for £149 a person on Faceook with overnight accommodation and two 'fully' qualified instructors. Nerys Lloyd (pictured back centre wearing sunglasses) surrounded by friends and family as she arrived at Swansea Crown Court for her sentencing yesterday Lloyd, of Aberavon, South Wales, was suspended from her firearms duties at South Wales police at the time of the tragedy after accepting a caution for a fraudulent insurance claim involving a vehicle. She pleaded guilty to four counts of gross negligence manslaughter and a Health and Safety at Work Act offence. Yesterday prosecutor Mark Watson KC said Lloyd made the decision to 'stick to the original' route after she 'rebuffed' messages from neighbour Mr O'Dwyer about finding a different location. The court heard the group were equipped with a paddleboard, a paddle and were attached to their boards with a traditional ankle leash. Mr Watson said the group were 'completely taken by surprise by the presence of the weir' which dropped sharply down 1.3m to the river below in the churning white water. He said the 'intensity of the water flowing over the weir' was equivalent to nearly two tonnes of water crossing a one-metre-wide section every second. Mr Watson said: 'In a chaotic episode of some twenty seconds, they were all carried over the weir crest by the strong current; five of them to the right of the fish pass and two to the left; and they all fell off of their boards into the powerful hydraulic below the weir.' The court heard the group received no health and safety guidance before heading out on their paddleboards while no next of kin details were taken from them which led to a delay in contacting families. Lloyd later told police she believed Mr O'Dwyer had given a health and safety briefing while she was using the toilets at Morrisons before going out on the water. Mr Watson said: 'However, all of the surviving participants are clear in their evidence that no health and safety briefing whatsoever took place before they entered the water, and there was no mention by anyone of a weir, or a fish pass, or of any need to exit the water to go around any weir.' The court heard Mr O'Dwyer's wife Ceri survived the paddleboard outing when she was kicked to safety by Andrea Powell, who then died. Mr Watson said she was receiving treatment in the back of an ambulance at 11am when police arrived to tell her that her husband had died. Emergency worker Jenny Heavens said she saw Lloyd arrive to console Mrs O'Dwyer before she put her head in her hands and said: 'I'm going to jail for this.' The court heard in a pre-sentence report Lloyd 'did appear to attribute quite a number of the poor, reckless decisions and lapses in organisation' to Mr O'Dwyer. In a personal statement to court, Lloyd said: 'I take full blame for the mistakes that meant four special individuals are not here today. 'Two of which were my close friends. 'I also want to acknowledge there were nine people on the river that day and every one of them is a victim.' Mr Elias added Lloyd's social media activity after the tragedy was her way of 'putting on a brave face' but it was 'far from the truth.' He said: 'She was putting on a brave face. 'Putting on a smile. In doing that as a way of coping that has made the suffering of those who were suffering more intense.' Afterwards Lisa Rose, Specialist Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime Division, said the case was an 'awful tragedy'. 'Nerys Lloyd should not have taken participants on the water that day; the heavy flooding had left the river running very fast and it was beyond the remit of a beginner's tour,' she added. 'The weir itself was in an extremely hazardous condition, with a high potential for loss of life, and all the possible exit points nearby had been flooded out. 'Lloyd was not qualified to take inexperienced paddleboarders out in such conditions, and her actions fell very far below the standard expected of a paddleboard instructor and activity planner. 'The tour could have started at a different point, to avoid the weir, or been cancelled altogether but Lloyd made the final decision to go-ahead with the event. 'There are no words than can articulate the devastation this tragedy has caused, and I can only hope that this sentence provides a sense of justice for those affected.'
