A care home manager has avoided a custodial sentence after two residents in wheelchairs drowned during an organised outing. Janice Sowden, 60, pleaded guilty to failing to provide safe care and treatment, resulting in the deaths of Alexander Wood, 43, a father of four, and 63-year-old Alison Tilsley.
Incident at Roadford Lake
Sowden was ordered to pay £4,090 following the incident at Roadford Lake, Devon, where a wheelyboat overturned during a trip in June 2022. A third resident, Kate Date, sustained serious injuries. The court heard that no formal risk assessment had been carried out prior to the day out.
She had taken six patients, all wheelchair users, from Burdon Grange Care Home to the activity centre. The wheelyboat, designed to carry wheelchair users, had been hired from the centre. Prosecutor James Marsland explained that Alexander Wood and Alison Tilsley were strapped into electric wheelchairs without any means of being released.
Boat Capsized Within Minutes
Within minutes, the vessel started to take on water and capsized. Mr Marsland described how both victims were “drowned by the weight of their wheelchairs”, which pulled them under the water. Sowden, registered manager since 2016, had been described as “caring” and “diligent” but a “cultural complacency” had developed, and her standards slipped.
Mr Marsland said: “Miss Sowden did not undertake any risk assessment in relation to the needs of the service users… This is a classic case of serious negligence.”
Judge’s Remarks
Judge Stuart Smith assessed that the facility housed “extremely vulnerable” service users and it should have been obvious that health and safety assessments were essential. He added that insufficient consideration was given to staff capability; one staff member could not swim. He described Sowden as “blase” about risk.
Sowden attempted to fabricate evidence after the deaths by creating a fake checklist for the boat trip to “deceive” investigators. She was ordered to pay £4,090, including a £190 government surcharge and £2,000 towards prosecution costs.
“This case is nothing short of devastating,” Judge Smith said. “The lives of two much-loved residents have been lost… This was in no small part a direct consequence of your cavalier attitude to good health and safety practice.”
