Instructor admits manslaughter of 4 paddleboarders

THE owner of a paddleboarding company has admitted the manslaughter of four people who drowned in an "avoidable tragedy".

- George Thompson

Paul O'Dwyer, 42, Andrea Powell, 41, Morgan Rogers, 24, and Nicola Wheatley, 40, died when their boards went over a weir on the River Cleddau in Pembrokeshire

The four victims had been part of a stand-up paddleboarding tour in October 2021, organised by former police officer Nerys Bethan Lloyd.

Lloyd, 39, from Aberavon, South Wales, appeared at Swansea Crown Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to four counts of gross negligence manslaughter and one offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

She was the owner and sole director of the tour's organiser Salty Dog Co Ltd.