The organisation of a rugby trip where UK teenager drowned in a lake was "inadequate"

The organisation of a rugby trip to the south of France during which a British teenager drowned in a lake was "inadequate" and "slipshod," an inquest has heard.

Talented rugby league player Harry Sykes, 16, was on a trip with the Halifax Elite Rugby Academy when he died while swimming in a lake near Carcassonne in 2018.

The group went on a trip to the beach and Harry swam to some rocks in the lake and joined in a game of volleyball at around 2pm in the shallow section of the water.

An inquest into his death, held at Bradford Coroner's Court, heard he was not reported missing until his team got back to their hotel.

His body was found in 6ft 6in (2m) of water in Lake Cavayere - 66ft (20m) away from the beach.

Recording a narrative conclusion, West Yorkshire senior coroner Martin Fleming said there were "significant flaws" in the organisation and preparation of the visit to the lake.

He said: “This resulted in confusion and uncertainty with respect to supervision, which was at best sporadic.

“The lack of head counts showed significant flaws in supervision and enabled Harry to disappear.

"Harry suffered a cardiac event of uncertain origins while swimming and drowned in unclear circumstances when not observed to have been in difficulties."

Mr Fleming said nobody had noticed Harry was not in a group photo taken before they left the lake.

And a "cursory" check of the beach had failed to alert them to the fact that Harry's bag and towel were still there.

The inquest previously heard the teenager was last seen alive in the water at 1.30pm on 5 September 2018, but he was not reported missing until around 6pm.

The French authorities were contacted and divers were later dispatched. Harry's body was recovered from the lake that evening.

Mr Fleming added it remains unclear whether there would have been a different outcome if Harry had been seen and retrieved from the water.

He said he was unable to find an unlawful killing conclusion, but branded the organisation of the trip to the lake inadequate and slipshod.

Mr Fleming said brothers Lee and Gareth Greenwood, both former professional players who founded Halifax Elite Rugby Academy, were in breach of their duties.

He said the company failed to properly plan the group's trip to the lake and had failed to supervise the boys properly at times on the day.

They had also failed to conduct headcounts of the group, aged between 16 and 19, during the trip to the beach.

The group left the beach at around 5.25pm and later a photograph of the group was taken.

The last time Lee Greenwood saw Harry was when the youngster was throwing a ball around in the shallow section of the water, the court heard.