Mum killed by propeller on family Broads holiday
A MUM-OF-THREE died after getting caught in the propeller of a Norfolk Broads cruiser when she was jolted overboard as it hit a river wall.
Laura Perry, 38, was standing on a rear deck as family members tried to turn around 42ft hire boat Diamond Emblem 1 because a mooring was full.
But the stern ‘ made hard contact with the embankment wall’ opposite Great Yarmouth yacht station on the river Bure and Ms Perry was thrown in, a report has revealed.
As other holidaymakers – including families with children – were kept behind a police cordon, a team of divers spent 90 minutes fighting to free her but she died at the scene.
A pathologist said the cause was ‘multiple injuries and drowning’.
The ‘incredibly caring’ mum to three sons, from Bermondsey in south-east London, was on the boat holiday with eight of her family.
They said in an online tribute: ‘She treasured her boys and embraced every minute spent with them on a multitude of trips, adventures, holidays and memory-making. She loved them and their father James Allen very deeply.’
An interim report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch called for better safety procedures after the
tragedy in August last year, including new designs to stop people falling in, better instruction and handover rules and improved engine control systems.
The cruiser had been hired from Ferry Marina at Horning, which called Diamond Emblem ‘the dazzling damsel of our fleet’. A full inquest is to be held
later and a final report by the MAIB will be published after a consultation.
Last December, another inquest heard holidaymaker Simon Houlder, 29, died after being slashed by the propeller of a cruiser on the same river.
It happened as he was trying to climb back on board after friends had pushed
him in as a prank. Broads Authority’s chief executive John Packman said: ‘As with any activity on the water, there are risks involved.
‘It is important that everyone follows safety advice for using the waterways. It is especially important for those that haven’t used a boat before.’