Rescuersfailed to save my son from icy lake

Philip Surridge went into the icy water on December 21 to help friend Paul Litchfield as he tried to rescue his wife’s dog.

The men had been on a shooting trip when the tragedy struck at Brightwell Lake, near Great Addington, Northants.

An inquest at Kettering Coroner’s Court heard Stephen Smith, owner of a nearby livery yard, desperately tried to help when he found Mr Surridge in the water.

But firefighters called to the scene did not follow him into the water, because it was against policy and instead waited for specialist teams.

By the time they arrived Mr Surridge had sunk out of sight and his body was not recovered until the following day. Mr Litchfield was found on December 30 by police divers, while the dog, Amy, survived.

Mr Surridge’s mother Beryl Hindlaugh said yesterday at least one firefighter should have gone into the water to help.

“I know that if a member of the fire brigade had gone in along with Stephen I am sure my son had the mental and physical strength to bring himself out of the water.

“That is why he kept shouting and asking, ‘Do not let me die’. I am so sorry to sit here and have to face the fire brigade because the fire brigade condemned my son to his death.

“I am sure Philip would have had the inner strength, because he had too much to live for.”

The inquest heard Mr Surridge, 42, from Corby, Northants, and Mr Litchfield, 30, from Raunds, Northants, both died from immersion in water.

Mr Smith said he found Mr Surridge, who had broken through ice, at about 5pm after he heard shouting. Nearby was a dog, also in the water.

Mr Surridge was shouting: “Don’t let me die, get me out, I can’t hold on any longer.”

He told the court he waded as far as he could before being blocked by thick ice, so tied clothes together to make a rope, as well as using branches.

He said he felt “overwhelming relief” when I saw other people coming, but added: “I was left feeling frustrated with the fire brigade and the slow process of the rescue considering the urgency of the situation.”

Kevin Brown, crew manager of the first fire engine on the scene, said they tried using “throw lines” but these were not long enough.

“Crew members were keen to go into the water to try and effect a rescue but my instructions were to not let them into the water.”

The inquest heard they did not try a “hose inflation” device as it too would not have been long enough, but Mr Brown said in hindsight he may have tried it.

Under questioning from Northamptonshire coroner Anne Pember, he said it would have been long enough had the crew had more lengths of hose with them – which were back in the fire engine.

Firefighter David Wilson told the court a fireman did not get into the water because: “It’s against our policy, we’re not allowed to do it.”

Replying to Mrs Hindlaugh’s comments, he said: “We were 60 to 120 seconds short of rescuing your son that night and we did everything we could to perform that rescue.”

When asked by the coroner if anything would be different if the same situation happened again, Northamptonshire fire and rescue’s head of operations, Philip Pells, said it would not. “I am satisfied that all personnel followed policy and did everything correctly with the equipment they had.”

She recorded verdicts of accidental death on both men.