POLICE chiefs have defended two community support officers who stood at the edge of a pond as a 10-year-old boy drowned in Wigan.
Jordon Lyon (pictured) jumped into the water after his eight-year-old step-sister Bethany got into difficulties while swimming at a beauty spot in May.
Two fishermen spotted Bethany’s arms wrapped around the neck of Jordon, who was holding her up with his head under the water. They jumped in and managed to save Bethany but Jordon became submerged.
The police community support officers (
PCSOs
) then arrived at the scene but did not attempt to rescue Jordon as they were not trained to deal with the incident, an inquest heard.
The boy’s stepfather and a friend waded into the pond in a desperate search for him and were joined minutes later by a uniformed officer who stripped off his body armour and dived in to help them.
Five minutes
Jordon was pulled from the water up to five minutes after the call for help was made by the PCSOs but he was later pronounced dead at hospital.
His mother, Tracy, said the PCSOs involved should lose their jobs for not “automatically” going into the water to save a drowning child.
But Assistant Chief Constable Dave Thompson, of Greater Manchester Police, said the inquest, held by deputy West Manchester coroner Alan Walsh, established that Jordon was probably dead by the time the PCSOs arrived. He had been under the water for some time and there was no indication where he was in the lake which was the size of a football pitch, he said.
Mr Thompson said: “Again, it is important to stress that Jordon had not been seen for some time before their arrival. The inquest established that, tragically, at the time of the PCSOs’ arrival, Jordan was probably dead.”
A verdict of accidental death was recorded.
Chief defends officers over drowning
September 21, 2007
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Looks like Assistant Chief Constable Dave Thompson has the same Damage limitation officer as George W Bush. He can say all he wants, but at the end of the day the 2 PCSO's stood by and did nothing.
I'm sorry, I know its very sad, but why is it always someone else who is to blame and not just an unfortunate accident? How old were these kids, and should they have been at this dangerous stretch of water, in the first place, unsupervised by their parents or an adult who knew them? Where were the parents?
Another situation whereby it is the PCSO's, Police, Government etc fault that a child has died. I would just like to ask the question "Why was a 10 and 8 year old allowed to play near a pond unsupervised". It is never the parents fault, they always want to blame someone else when they themselves are negligent.
I do not blame anybody else for this child's death other than the parents. It is so sad that a child has died through no fault of his own, the children should not have been allowed near that water, especially unsupervised.
The parents have no one else to blame but themselves and they will live with this on their mind for the rest of their lives.
where were the parents when an 8 year old and 10 year old were swimming in a pond ?
I wonder how many of the snide commentators from the previous article "PCSO's just `stood by'" will turn up here and apologise for slagging the PCSO's off without knowing the full facts?
Thought not!!! We really are to quick to judge!!!
what a brave and selfless young man...the article presents him in a very heart-breaking situation.
this ARTICLE begins by showing the community support officers in a bad light by saying "two community support officers who stood at the edge of a pond as a 10-year-old boy drowned in Wigan"..
later though, in the article it states that the boy had not been seen for some time before they arrived at the scene.
given their lack of experience and not knowing where to begin a search, it can only be seen as a tragic but selfless sacrifice by this young boy...jordan, there is a special place for you in heaven.
A young boy has tragically died and the mother is full of grief and looking for someone to blame.
Bring on the 'community support officers' - they are not International Rescue, not Thunderbirds. What do you expect them to do? They don't hsve X ray eyes. They don't know where the boy is. I notice that some fishermen (no doubt upstanding members of the local community) raised the alarm some considerable time before the officers arrived. They never waded in to perform a heroes rescue. Maybe they know what the waters are like there?. No doubt there are signs telling people it's dangerous to bathe there. I don't know, it's a tragedy. But it serves no purpose to blame anyone for this.
What an intolerable disgrace. The behaviour of the PCSOs is bad enough but for a Senior Officer, or are they just Managers now, to make such a pathetic set of excuses is beyond belief. The 10 year old boy, who unfortunately drowned, had more common sense as well as bravery and humanity by saving his sister than the PCSOs, as did the two fishermen who were also willing to take action.
I wonder if any of those three had the correct training to attempt such a thing?
I have no problem with Senior Officers supporting the people under their command when they suffer unfair criticism but trying to make pathetic excuses in order to sweep complete ineptitude under the carpet is totally unacceptable.
The fact is, no matter how it is dressed up with “probablies”, that nobody can be certain that the boy was dead when the PCSOs arrived.
A.C.C. Dave Thompson should go and see the parents personally to explain to them why he believes what happened was perfectly in order and after that he should consider his position very carefully.
I don’t know how many people would agree but I for one think he is holding a position for which he is totally unsuited.
The parents have my complete sympathy and both they and to rest of the public of Greater Manchester deserve far better Service and Protection than they are getting from the GMP.
My first point is what were the parents doing letting a 8 year old child swim in a pond like this. How many times are we told that it is very dangerous to swim in place like this? In defence of these PCSO the first rule of rescue is never put yourself in danger and as it would appear that 2 people were already in the water trying to save the boy then it may be that they thought that they could do more from the bank. I feel sorry for the family of this young lad but please don’t try to push the blame onto someone else please remember that your children are your responsibility
Next time i see a police officer getting beaten up which i did do and went to his aid i will remember that i beat pass him by as i have not had training in self defence
Time for a new chief that is not affraid of the bullies and criminals
Although I have strict reservations about the effectiveness of PCSO's, it is not their fault that this brave young lad died.
I am sure the coroner at the inquest would have made strong criticism if that were the case, clearly it is not.
Any parent who loses a child, may find comfort in attributing blame to something or someone, however undue public criticism of the PCSO's involved should not be allowed to continue.
If we are to allow totally unfounded criticism to continue, surely it is only right that the question be raised as to the whereabouts of the children's adult supervision. The distance between the incident and the home address is approximately 12 miles!
Enough said .................
RIP young Jordon, it is not the direct fault of anyone, accidents happen and will continue to do so.