Nerys Bethan Lloyd, a former police officer, led a stand-up paddleboarding tour on the River Cleddau despite ‘extremely hazardous conditions’ with weather warnings in place
Darren Wheatley Full Statement
The mother of a young woman who died on a river in south-west Wales has said she can “never forgive” the owner of a paddleboarding company who took “full blame” for four deaths. Nerys Bethan Lloyd, a former police officer, led a stand-up paddleboarding tour on the River Cleddau in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in October, 2021 despite “extremely hazardous conditions” with weather warnings in place.
Lloyd, who was jailed for 10 years and six months at Swansea Crown Court on Wednesday, failed to warn the group about a dangerous weir with a 1.3m drop along the route, or how to navigate it.
Paul O’Dwyer, 42, Andrea Powell, 41, Morgan Rogers, 24, and Nicola Wheatley, 40, all died as they were swept over the weir, becoming trapped under the fast-moving water. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here.
In the aftermath of the incident, Lloyd sought to blame Mr O’Dwyer, who helped act as an instructor on the trip.
Speaking outside the court, Theresa Hall, the mother of Morgan Rogers, said she lost her “best friend” and could “never forgive” Lloyd.
Teresa Hall Full Statement
She said: “It’s been three long years and seven months since I lost my only daughter, Morgan, my best friend. Over three years since I laid eyes on her, over three years since I heard her infectious laugh.
“I wish you would all have met her, my beautiful daughter, she was always smiling, always happy, always content in her life.
“Anyone that has lost a child by someone else’s doing will know that there is no pain like it. That day I lost a piece of myself, I will never be the same person without my Morgan.”
She branded Lloyd “arrogant”, saying her failure to get next of kin details meant it was more than 12 hours before she was informed of her daughter’s death.
“Even then, it was another 12 hours before I formally identified her myself,” Ms Hall said.
“My precious girl was not important to Nerys Lloyd. She couldn’t give police Morgan’s details, as she hadn’t even bothered to get Morgan’s emergency contact details in case of an accident. That was despicable.”
Darren Wheatley, Ms Wheatley’s husband, said the loss of his wife was due to Lloyd and no-one else.
Detective Superintendent Cameron Ritchie Full Statement
“Losing Nicola has devastated our family and two young children lost their mammy,” he said.
“Nicola died in circumstances that were completely avoidable and should not have happened. Decisions made by Nerys Lloyd, and only Nerys Lloyd, led to the four lives lost.
“Any sentence served by Nerys in prison will never ease the pain of losing Nicola, and our lives will never be the same again.”
On Tuesday, Mr Wheatley read a statement to the court in which he branded Lloyd a “stone-cold, heartless individual”.
He said that the first Christmas after his wife died Lloyd was posting pictures of herself smiling at a light display at Margam Park.
“You had a joyful look on your face without a care in the world, without any sign of remorse.”
Ceri O’Dwyer, who was on the tour, described her husband, Paul, as the “kindest man” but admitted he made a “catastrophic error of judgment”.
In a statement read to the court, she said: “I have never denied Paul’s role in what happened, but I will not allow him to be blamed for more than he deserves.”
In a brief statement read to the court on Wednesday, Lloyd accepted her part in the four deaths.
Quoting Lloyd, David Elias KC, for the defence, said: “I take full blame (for the incident) that meant four extremely special individuals are not here today.
“The pain for me has been unbearable but the pain for the families unmeasurable.
“There were nine people on the river that day and every one of them is a victim.”
Lloyd, 39, from Aberavon, was the owner and sole director of Salty Dog Co Ltd, which organised the tour.
She pleaded guilty to four counts of gross negligence manslaughter and one offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act in March, and was sentenced by Mrs Justice Dame Mary Stacey at Swansea Crown Court on Wednesday.
A former firearms officer for South Wales Police, Lloyd appeared in the dock wearing a white shirt and dark trousers.
She stared straight ahead at the judge as her sentence was read out.
Mrs Justice Stacey told the court that the four people who died had been “cut off in their prime, with so much to live for and look forward to”.
She told the defendant: “There was no safety briefing beforehand.
“None of the participants had the right type of leash for their board, and you didn’t have any next of kin details.
“No consent forms were obtained. There had been no mention to the group of a weir on the river and how to deal with it and no discussion of the tidal river conditions whatsoever.”
The judge said there were Met Office weather warnings at that time, as well as a flood alert in place through Natural Resources Wales.
She told Lloyd that she had watched CCTV footage of the incident, which she described as “too distressing” to play in court.
A conversation between Lloyd and her wife was inadvertently recorded on her phone hours after the incident.
She could be heard saying she was “finished” and the incident was “100%” her fault, but blamed Mr O’Dwyer in the aftermath of the incident.
The judge rejected the suggestion from the defence that the plan had been to go around the weir, but that Lloyd had been pulled over.
“It is clear to me that you intended for the group to go through the weir,” she said.
“Paul (O’Dwyer) had researched alternative routes that would avoid crossing the weir, all of which were dismissed by you.
“He raised valid concerns that you ignored. Your interest appeared to be more of an exciting route rather than safety.”
The judge accused Lloyd of being “lax” when it came to health and safety, despite her training as a police officer and as a volunteer for the RNLI.
Handing Lloyd a sentence of 10 years and six months, the judge told Lloyd: “I accept you are desperately sorry for what happened that day.
“Your life has also been massively impacted. But being sorry for what happened is different from remorse.”
Lloyd showed no emotion as her sentence was read out, only nodding at the judge and mouthing, “thank you”.
Detective superintendent Cameron Ritchie, of Dyfed-Powys Police, said no sentence could “ever replace the loss for the families or the trauma suffered by the survivors”.
Detective Superintendent Cameron Ritchie Full Statement
He said: “Nerys Lloyd’s catalogue of failures that led to the deaths of Andrea, Morgan, Nicola and Paul should never have happened.
“Their lives were needlessly lost as a result of her negligence.”
Lisa Rose, specialist prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service special crime division, said: “Nerys Lloyd should not have taken participants on the water that day; the heavy flooding had left the river running very fast and it was beyond the remit of a beginners’ tour.
“The weir itself was in an extremely hazardous condition, with a high potential for loss of life, and all the possible exit points nearby had been flooded out.
“Lloyd was not qualified to take inexperienced paddleboarders out in such conditions, and her actions fell very far below the standard expected of a paddleboard instructor and activity planner.
“The tour could have started at a different point, to avoid the weir, or been cancelled altogether, but Lloyd made the final decision to go ahead with the event.
“There are no words that can articulate the devastation this tragedy has caused, and I can only hope that this sentence provides a sense of justice for those affected.”
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