By [Olusola Dayo], M10 News | April 22, 2025
A former police officer has been sentenced to ten years in prison for her role in a fatal paddleboarding tragedy that claimed four lives after ignoring multiple safety warnings and failing to take basic precautions.
Nerys Lloyd, 39, who runs the Salty Dog paddleboard company, led a group of seven onto the swollen River Cleddau in Haverfordwest on October 30, 2021, despite torrential rain and official weather alerts. All seven were swept over a weir, with devastating consequences.
Three women—Morgan Rogers, 24; Nicola Wheatley, 40; and Andrea Powell, 41—became trapped at the foot of the weir and drowned. Fellow instructor Paul O’Dwyer initially managed to escape but lost his life trying to return to help the others.
During sentencing at Swansea Crown Court, Judge Mary Stacey said the case revealed a series of “catastrophic failings.”
“There was no safety briefing beforehand. None of the participants had the correct type of leash for their boards. You didn’t gather next-of-kin details, obtain consent forms, or explain the presence of the weir or the river’s tidal conditions,” she told Lloyd.
Although Lloyd had previously admitted manslaughter, she attempted to shift responsibility onto Mr O’Dwyer, claiming he gave the safety talk while she was briefly away. Survivors of the outing disputed that any such briefing occurred.
Images presented in court showed the large weir, featuring a narrow fish ramp just wide enough for a paddleboard and a concrete landing platform that had become submerged due to rising waters.
According to testimony, Lloyd navigated her board down the fish ramp moments before the rest of the group was swept over the weir and thrown into the fast-flowing water. Defence counsel David Elias KC argued that she intended to guide the group to a safe exit via the side platform but was forced to improvise when the path was submerged.
Judge Stacey also acknowledged the profound pain suffered by the victims’ families. “We heard moving statements from their loved ones, whose grief is unimaginable. These were lives full of promise, cut tragically short.”
The tragedy has prompted calls for stricter regulation and oversight of companies operating in hazardous conditions that involve water-based activities.
