THEME PARK HORROR
Drayton Manor theme park operators fined £1 million after girl, 11, died on Splash Canyon ride
THE operators of Drayton Manor theme park have today been fined £1million after an 11-year-old girl was killed on a water rapids ride.
Evha Jannath tragically died when she fell from the Splash Canyon river rapids ride during a trip with schoolfriends in 2017.
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And the theme park was today fined for safety failing that led to the schoolgirl's death.
Lawyers for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), bringing a prosecution against the park for not properly ensuring the safety of its guests, said the theme park's operators oversaw "systemic failures of safety" on the river rapids ride.
Evha was "propelled" from a vessel on the Splash Canyon ride at Drayton Manor in Staffordshire during an end-of-year school trip with friends from Jameah Girls Academy in Leicester on May 9 2017.
Drayton Manor had admitted breaching Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Sentencing Drayton Manor Theme Parks Ltd at Stafford Crown Court on Thursday, Mr Justice Spencer said: "This was an utterly tragic waste of a young life."
And he added that no sentence could "reflect the tragedy of this case for Evha's family".
He said the little girl, who had turned 11 just four days before the tragedy, had a "bright future".
The court heard Evha's mother "is still trying to come to terms" with the tragedy.
And the judge said there was "no prospect of the fine being paid" given the company operating the park at the time, had since gone into administration.
But he added: "In my judgment it would be wholly inappropriate to do other than impose the fine which the offence merited.
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"The public and Evha's family must not be led to think that this serious offence, which resulted in the death of a child, can properly be met by only a nominal (financial) penalty."
He added: "I bear in mind there are other similar rides in the United Kingdom, I bear in mind that this theme park has been sold to another operator and the staff transferred over.
"It is important that lessons are learned and the seriousness of the defendant company's failing in this case is marked by an appropriate punishment."
Former Leicester East MP Keith Vaz, who has been supporting the family of Evha Jannath since the incident in 2017, said the past four years had been "torture" for them.
In a statement on their behalf, he said: "We welcome the decision of Mr Justice Spencer, the verdict he has given and the sentence he has imposed. However this process has taken nearly four years to conclude. It has been torture for them. As a result, the company in its original form no longer exists.
"Nothing will ever bring Evha back. The whole family lives every day with the human consequences of this tragedy. They remain devastated by her loss.
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"When we all visited the site a few days after Evha's death we pointed out to the police, the company and the health and safety executive the faults that existed in the system at Drayton Manor.
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"However, we allowed justice to take its course. No-one has lost their jobs as a result of this, the company will not pay this fine, no individual has said they are responsible, but there remains a hole in the heart of the family. They will never forget little Evha.
"Lessons need to be learned. After the lockdown is over, water rides such as this one should not be allowed to reopen in the UK and elsewhere. I urge all companies to heed the words of the judge. The sentence is a powerful message to all others to act immediately. If they do not, this tragedy will happen again."
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Hundreds attend funeral for 11-year-old Evha Jannath who died on Splash Canyon at Drayton Manor