Mother who died after falling from hire boat could have been saved by guardrail

A MOTHER-OF-THREE who fell from a hire boat, got caught in the propeller and drowned would have been unlikely to have fallen if an adequate guardrail had been fitted, an investigation has found.

Laura Perry was holidaying on the Norfolk Broads as part of a group of nine, including her partner, who was the nominated skipper and their three sons aged 16, 14 and four.

Her mother and father, her sister, who was the driver, and her 16-year-old niece were also in the group on the 12.8-metre motor cruiser Diamond Emblem 1.

Ms Perry fell overboard from the rear deck when the boat’s stern made hard contact against the embankment wall opposite Great Yarmouth Yacht Station on the River Bure, a Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report said.

It happened on the third day of their five-day holiday, at 1.18pm on August 19 2020. “She became entangled in a length of rope and the propeller, suffering multiple injuries that resulted in her drowning,” the report said.

“It is likely that Laura would have been prevented from falling into the water if Diamond Emblem 1 had been fitted with an adequate guardrail around its stern. The boat’s driver at the upper helm control position was unable to control the motor cruiser at the time, most likely because the helm position changeover lever had been incorrectly set to the lower helm position.”

Further contributing factors were identified in the MAIB report, relating to the “technical features of the dual-helm control system”.

The investigation found that “both the boat handover and the documentation provided to the family were insufficient to ensure that the hire party were competent to drive a boat with dualhelm control”.

Norfolk Police said at the time that Ms Perry was in her 30s and from London. Hire boat operator Ferry Marina said in a statement: “As this is an ongoing process we are not able to comment at this stage.”