Pool owner cleared of liability over late-night party injuries

Teenager Kylie Grimes was hurt in August 2006 when she dived into the indoor pool at the Surrey home of David Hawkins, managing director of a forklift truck business.

Ms Grimes, now 23, of Stephendale Road, Farnham, claimed the tragedy was caused by Mr Hawkins’ negligence or breach of his duties under the Occupiers’ Liability Act, failing to prevent access to the pool or of having no signs warning people not to dive or indicating its depth.

She was left paralysed from the chest down after the force of the impact broke a vertebra below the base of her neck.

At a hearing in May, Mrs Justice Thirlwall, sitting in London, heard Mr Hawkins and his wife were away that night but had given permission for daughter Katie, who had just left college, to have two friends over.

Ms Hawkins told the court she phoned her father for permission to bring three more but, in the end, a group of about 20 came back to the house from the pub.

She had not given permission for anyone to use the pool – but believing they would do so anyway since there were no locks – she turned on the lights for their “safety”.

Mr Hawkins, of Compton Way, Farnham, denied liability.

His counsel, William Norris QC, told the judge no sound legal basis existed upon which he could be held liable for the accident which happened in an “unremarkable swimming pool on domestic premises when the claimant, an adult, chose to do something which involved an obvious risk”.

Mrs Justice Thirlwall – who was only ruling on the issue of liability – agreed and dismissed the claim against him yesterday.

She added: “The defendant was not required to adopt a paternalistic approach to his visitors, all of whom were adults, all of whom were making choices about their behaviour that night.”

The judge concluded: “I do not accept that it is incumbent on a householder with a private swimming pool to prohibit adults from diving into an ordinary pool whose dimensions and contours can clearly be seen.

“It may well be different where there is some hidden or unexpected hazard, but there was none here.”

She ruled Mr Hawkins was not in breach of his duty to Ms Grimes under the Occupiers’ Liability act and she also dismissed the claim of negligence against him.

In her ruling Mrs Justice Thirlwall said at the time of the accident Ms Grimes was 18 and was “healthy, athletic and a keen sportswoman” and noted the impact on her of the events that night had been “catastrophic”.

The judge said Mr Hawkins’ house was large, surrounded by extensive gardens and the heated swimming pool is housed in a separate building which is never locked.

The whole property is surrounded by a seven-foot fence and the gates are electric.

Ms Grimes was an invited guest and she said she accepted her evidence that she was not drunk. An “accomplished swimmer with a number of qualifications”, Ms Grimes intended to execute a shallow racing dive, but the judge said she was “satisfied that the dive was steeper than she intended”.

“In my judgment either she misjudged the dive, or she misjudged the depth of the water, or she did both.”

The judge pointed out that there was always risk in swimming and diving in any pool, adding: “Even where an expert diver dives into a purpose-built pool his dive is not free from risk.”