The investigation found that the young man, who drowned in a lake during a rugby trip to France, went missing after his team returned to the hotel and realized he was staying. Harry Sykes was on his way to college at the Halifax Elite Rugby Academy when he passed away on September 5, 2018.
Divers have found the body of a 16-year-old boy from Bradford, West Yorkshire, in a lake near Carcassonne in southern France. An investigation at a court hearing in Bradford on Monday found that Harry and members of his team went on the second full day of the trip to Lake Cowier, where Harry was swimming with a small group on several rocks and then was seen playing water volleyball.
Court officer Jane Dawson said Harry last entered the water alive at about 1:30 p.m. Ms Dawson said the team returned to the hotel around 6pm, adding that “only after counting people did they realize Harry was missing”.
The investigation found that they contacted the French authorities and later dispatched divers who removed Harry’s body from the lake that evening. He was pronounced dead at 10:45 pm
Martin Fleming, chief investigator for West Yorkshire, said Harry’s family “have concerns about how the trip will be organized and supervised”, which will be discussed at the hearing. Before the investigation, Harry’s mother, Natasha Burton, said the trip was “poorly planned” and that “oversight of the lake was not adequate”.
“At the time, I was unaware that two adults were bringing 38 minors on this flight,” attorney Eason Harrison said in a statement. Ms Barton told the investigation that Harry had been playing rugby since the age of eight or nine and his dream was to play professionally.
He said he took private swimming lessons as a child and described his swimming skill as “excellent”. Ms Barton told the investigation that Harry was offered a place at the Halifax Elite Rugby Academy after handing a brochure to his rugby club college.
She said the trip to France was a bonding session before the deadline and that her son, who was diagnosed with a sensory processing disorder and autistic tendencies, was “extremely excited” to leave. Ms Barton said the academy’s Lee Greenwood, who was traveling with his brother Garrett, called him at 7:00 pm on September 5 and said he “was unable to find Harry”.
He said he was told at the time that Harry might have taken the wrong bus or else he would be lost. Later that evening, he said, “He called and told them they had found him and were going to take him out. I screamed and cried and hung up.”
Harry’s stepfather, Daniel Burton, told the investigation that when he learned Harry was missing, he used the Find My Friends app and found Harry’s phone was by the lake. “He showed that his phone wasn’t where Harry was,” said Mr Burton.
He told the coroner that he had spoken several times with Lee and Garrett Greenwood, who said they would go back to the lake to see if Harry was there again, and later told him that the divers would search the lake. “This is when the scale of what happened started to diminish,” said Mr. Burton.
Mr and Mrs Barton said they visited Greenwood after Harry’s death. Ms Barton said Garrett told them Harry was in the water playing volleyball and that he “remembered she was swimming next to him”.
Ms Barton said she was told in the autopsy report that Harry had drowned and was “infected with a virus that no one knew about”. The investigation, which was scheduled for two weeks, is still ongoing.
Source: Belfastlive
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
