Mystery of death in St Lucia

A London family are still waiting for an inquest into the terrible death of their daughter while in the dream island of St Lucia, according to latest reports.

Hardworking UK student and beloved daughter Hannah Defoe was treated to a dream trip to the West Indian island of St Lucia in July 2012. She attended Essex Performers College and had just won the Most Improved First Year Award. Her cousin is the famous soccer player Jermain Defoe.

The 20 year old was accompanied by her cousin Janet and it's from her distraught account that any of the details have emerged about the terrible, chaotic event.

Hannah was happily swimming in the pool at Juliette's Lodge Hotel, Fort Vieux, when the water suddenly turned live with an electric current. It took rescuers a chaotic one and half hours to retrieve Hannah from the water and by that time she was dead, of course. Rescuers were also electrocuted, though not fatally. It's unknown how Hannah's body was finally retrieved.

To this day, parents Hope and Matthew still have no idea how this happened. Inquests in St Lucia have been repeatedly adjourned and details have not been forthcoming from authorities. One inquest notification left the parents with only 24 hours to get to St Lucia from the UK. They begged for a postponement for a month, finally got it and then when they arrived found it was postponed again because the judge hadn't realized he'd need a jury!

Latest article
http://www.northlondon-today.co.uk/...e didn’t come back that’s when panic started’

Local paper says inquest 'reportedly' got underway in Jan this year, but doesn't seem certain
http://www.htsstlucia.org/HTS_News/2014/January/9th/Defoe-coroners-inquest.html#.UvZJ6Mu9KSM

Title is misleading; local article is actually about Hannah
http://stluciastar.com/did-woman-arrested-for-murder-misunderstand-governor-generals-words/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ghter-Hannah-died-St-Lucia-swimming-pool.html

A former policeman was also electrocuted in the middle of a cricket pitch in St Lucia
http://stluciastar.com/authorities-silent-on-shocking-report/

Sorry slightly o/t, just an observation about link's usage of electrocute.

From OP quote:
...retrieve Hannah from the water and by that time she was dead, of course.
Rescuers were also electrocuted, though not fatally.
BBM UBM

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/electrocute
1
: to execute (a criminal) by electricity
2
: to kill by a shock of electricity


Most of us have seen 'electrocute' misused this way before.
Pls return to topic. :seeya:

Sorry, that did cross my mind but I just wondered rather than checking. I should have said received shocks or something similar.

A pump/filter or lights are the only reasons I can think of to have electricity supplies in the pool. The reasons for them to go wrong seem to have just two possibilities;

Faulty/substandard equipment
Incorrect/substandard installation

Unless some dang fool put the mains cable for the hotel right underneath or beside the pool, then managed to damage it when they laid the pool. Then managed to install a substandard pool too, that leaked onto the cable until....

I don't know what the rules are in St Lucia, but in the UK that steel-encased outdoor cable you have to use is really expensive.

I just read the reviews on Hotel.com. In the info section, it stated the hotel was built in 1996. When I was in St. Lucia in 1990, the government was just starting to pave the road that circles the island. It was definitely more third world then than it was in 2007, when I last visited the island.

I feel so badly for her parents, family and friends. I hope they get the answers they so desperately seek. JMV

zwiebel said:

Sorry, that did cross my mind but I just wondered rather than checking. I should have said received shocks or something similar.

A pump/filter or lights are the only reasons I can think of to have electricity supplies in the pool. The reasons for them to go wrong seem to have just two possibilities;

Faulty/substandard equipment
Incorrect/substandard installation

Click to expand...

No, no, no, zweibel, my apologies.
My post did not refer to your usage but to reporter's miswording saying they were electrocuted but not fatally.
Maybe reporter is a 'little bit pregnant' and got mixed up? LOL?
I quoted reporter's goof.
Sorry if anyone thought I was snide or directing the point at you.

A puzzling situation, this pool. Sad for family.

All pools must be grounded properly.

Such a sad case.

ATasteOfHoney said:

All pools must be grounded properly.

Such a sad case.

Click to expand...

Yes, they tell me that if my home pool lights leak and take on water, they will immediately short and shut down that circuit.

I hope they are right.

I remembered reading about another hotel swimming pool electrocution death last year.
Found it.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...harged-in-electrocution-of-man-at-4968736.php

An investigation by police, the city's Public Works and Engineering Department and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation also determined the wiring to the pool light lacked a ground fault circuit interrupter that would have immediately cut off the current in the event of a shock, officials said. The pool also lacked proper bonding, police said. Both are violations of the National Electric Code.

The hotel hired Brown Electric, Inc., in June to replace the wiring and bonding for the pool, police said. Pyle, the supervisor for the job, did not get a permit for the work with the City of Houston, police said.

The nightmare goes on, say family of Jermain Defoe's cousin after pool electrocution
March 14, 2014

An inquest at North London coroner’s court was due to begin tomorrow but the family has now been told it has been adjourned for a third time because a hearing into Miss Defoe’s death has not concluded in St Lucia.

Click to expand...

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/t...-cousin-after-pool-electrocution-9167787.html

This photo of Juliette's Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor

I can't believe the inquest has had to be delayed again. I feel so, so sorry for these parents, especially mom. She is just crying out for answers and some acknowledgement of her loss from authorities and the hotel owners. She has been waiting nearly two years now.

Here is a very sad article from last August, when Hope was sobbing in court in England as she had been told she had to wait until this month for the inquest, as St Lucia still hadn't got their act together. And now she has to wait again. The poor woman's in torment.

Apparently the report from St Lucia, that is so slow in arriving, contains details of the pool lacking a circuit breaker and people being aware there were problems with the electrics but not fixing them. In the article it is also said Hannah's cousin and aunt were so severely injured trying to save her, it is lucky there were not three fatalities.

I don't know if fears for the tourist industry are a factor, but it would surely be better to have an incident like this fully investigated, I'd have thought?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/22/hannah-defoe-pool-electrocution-st-lucia

Mmmm. Doing a little reading, St Lucia has 350,000 visitors a year and tourism is the second highest earner for the country, after bananas. You would think someone would have the wit to realize how damaging it is for this young girl's death to go unresolved.

zwiebel said:

Mmmm. Doing a little reading, St Lucia has 350,000 visitors a year and tourism is the second highest earner for the country, after bananas. You would think someone would have the wit to realize how damaging it is for this young girl's death to go unresolved.

Click to expand...

But if tourism is unaffected, it apparently is not viewed as "damaging" to the authorities?

I agree, however, that they need to figure out what happened if for no other reason than it is the right thing to do for this poor girl's family. And to understand how it could affect others going forward in any location.

This inquiry is complete and the findings have been presented in the form of a report to the British Authorities, contrary to what has been suggested. The records of the Attorney General Chambers indicate that the report was submitted on October 23, 2013.

Meanwhile, the inquest into the death of Ms. Hannah Defoe continues in accordance with the Coroners Act, Cap 2.16, Revised Laws of Saint Lucia. This is a judicial matter over which the Government of Saint Lucia has no control.

Therefore, it is erroneous to suggest that the Government is impeding justice, or has not fulfilled its responsibility in this case.

http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/pub..._Lucia_goverment_Hannah_Defoe_Case34550.shtml

Caribbean magistrates have ruled that Hannah Defore was unlawfully killed by electrocution

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...fully-killed-inquest-rules.html#ixzz4Wgm8BxRz