Mothers pay tribute to children caught in rip tide as inquest begins

Joe Abbess, 17, and Sunnah Khan, 12, drowned and eight other people were treated by paramedics after they are thought to have been caught in a rip tide next to the pier at the Dorset seaside resort on May 31 last year.

Dorset Police impounded the pleasure cruiser Dorset Belle – which ran trips from Bournemouth Pier – following the fatal incident and arrested a man in his 40s on suspicion of manslaughter.

But after consulting an expert as part of its investigation, the force said it had made the “evidence-based decision” that the movement of the Dorset Belle did not contribute to creating dangerous sea conditions during the incident.

The force said the arrested man would face no further action.

During a pre-inquest review, coroner Rachael Griffin said the Dorset Belle was not a factor in their deaths.

She said: “I have ruled out the involvement of the Dorset Belle and it being a causative and contributory factor in Joe and Sunnah’s death.

“It would be speculative to link that boat to the deaths but also it’s important that within the evidence there may be reference to previous incidents.

“There is no evidence that the boat was previously involved in previous incidents, again that is speculative to say it was.”

Both families thanked the emergency services for their efforts to save Joe and Sunnah.

Joe’s mother said the family has been “devastated” at the loss of their “generous, loving, caring, hard-working and funny” son.

Vanessa Abbess read a “pen portrait” and a statement on behalf of herself and her husband Peter, paying tribute to the 17-year-old trainee chef for Southampton Football Club.

She told the Bournemouth hearing: “Joe was a wonderful son, brother and friend and we are all devastated by his death, he is greatly missed.

“Our family and friends will always love him and we are incredibly proud of the fabulous young man he was.

“Joe was generous, loving, caring, hard-working and funny. We were privileged to have him in our lives for 17 years and we are all so sorry that he will never be able to fulfil his dreams and ambitions.

“Joe had a great life ahead of him and it is so tragic that he was snatched away from it. We all find a future without him in our lives very difficult to comprehend.”

Mrs Abbess said that Joe had gone to the beach that day with a big group of friends, including his best friend Joe G, and she had messaged him at 3.45pm: “Hope you’re having fun at the beach. It’s so warm, don’t forget to apply suncream and drink water.”

She said: “When we looked back through the records, it came to our attention that this message was sent at the exact same time the incident was unfolding, so perhaps it was an intuition, maybe something had alerted me in the depths of my mind that I felt I needed to message Joe to check in on him.”

Harriet Short, who represents the family, took over reading the statement on behalf of Mrs Abbess who had become too emotional to continue.

She said that at 4.27pm, Mrs Abbess received a call from her son’s friend, Nieve, and added: “Nieve sounded very panicked and said there had been an incident in the sea involving Joe.

“She said there were lifeguards and that they were trying to get Joe and Tom out of the water. She sounded hysterical.

“At this time, I was very shocked and was wondering what was going on but was unaware of the extent of it.”

Ms Short said another friend, Anna, called Mrs Abbess to say “that Joe was in the sea when the waves got crazy and that the alarm had been raised”.

Mrs Abbess then received calls from the police and in a call at 5.41pm, an officer passed her to an A&E consultant at the hospital who asked if they had left home yet.

She said in her statement: “They told me that there was no need to rush as they couldn’t do any more for Joe.

“He had been unconscious since coming out of the sea and they had to call it as there wasn’t any more they could do to bring him back.

“I was devastated and so shocked at this news, I fell to my knees and sobbed, I was on my own and utterly heartbroken that Joe had died. It was so hard to believe, as he had left home healthy and strong just a few hours earlier.”

In her statement, Mrs Abbess said they went to Bournemouth hospital that evening where she and her husband saw Joe’s body.

The statement says: “It didn’t feel real until we saw him and then it really hit. Joe was so peaceful and looked like he was asleep, he had sand in his hair and his ears and was wearing just his swim shorts and his sunglasses were beside him. Pete and I were utterly heartbroken.”

Mrs Abbess said in her statement that Joe’s funeral was held on June 29 with 300 people attended followed by a wake at Southampton Football Club’s St Mary’s stadium.

She added: “After Joe’s death, his friends who were at the beach with him when he died were still reeling from shock and it had such an impact on them.

“All of Joe’s friends still come to visit us often. Joe G told us that he was there with Joe the whole time whilst he was being worked on by the lifeguards/paramedics after coming out of the sea.

“It is heartwarming that Joe had his best friend with him in his final moments on the beach and that he had somebody there who cared for him so deeply.”

She added: “Joe was so happy and enjoying life to the full until right before he died. He was working, enjoying college and loved spending time with his family and friends.

“During Joe’s final week, he had some fun with his friends and was having a great day at the beach in Bournemouth before tragedy struck.

“Our family used to love beaches and found the sound of waves calming but now hearing this sends shivers down our spines.”

Mrs Abbess said that she was concerned that there were insufficient lifeguards on duty on the day of the incident and by the first anniversary, there had been no signage put up warning of the dangers.

She said: “We question whether there were enough lifeguards on the beach initially to deal with the incident and whether they had experience in dealing with such large-scale incidents as there were so many casualties.

“We question whether the area of sea where Joe died should have been a flagged safe swimming zone and whether it ought to have been redefined as unsafe following a riptide incident in August 2021.

“We understand that emerging rip currents can happen very suddenly and be very ferocious, so feel watching the area from the shore may have been insufficient for public safety.

“So yet again, based on the historic incidents in this location, why were safe swimming flags in place in a potentially dangerous area that day?

“We feel that Joe and Sunnah’s deaths, all casualties and the entire incident could have been preventable if the flagged safe swimming zone had been reassessed.”

Mrs Abbess said the family was campaigning for improved education on sea safety in schools working with the RLSS UK (Royal Life Saving Society) in Joe and Sunnah’s memory.

She said: “We have had a lot of time to reflect since Joe passed away. We think there should be more education for people about the dangers of the sea/water and to try and save others’ lives, so we have been raising awareness about this.

“Joe always cared for others, so we want to do this for him.

“We would like to see more education within schools about safe open-water swimming and where possible, create a safe learning environment where a riptide could be simulated so that the teaching of what to do is memorable and more realistic if found in this situation. It is not enough to know how to swim without a knowledge of what to do in an emergency.”

Reading her “pen portrait” of Sunnah, Stephanie Williams said that her daughter was “incredibly popular at school” and “fiercely protective of her family”.

Fighting back her emotions, Ms Williams explained that Sunnah’s name meant “the right path” and added: “From the moment I saw her, I loved her dearly. Everyone did.”

She said: “At her core, Sunnah was kind, funny, reliable, smart and incredibly beautiful. Her smile lit up a room and her laugh was infectious.

“She cared about so many people and would do anything for her family and friends. She was a force of nature, to know her was to be truly lucky. We have missed her and will continue to miss her for the rest of our lives.”