Manslaughter charges for lifesavers

TWO lifesavers were found guilty of manslaughter after a woman drowned off Villajoyosa’s Basseta de l’Oli beach in July 2019.
The Alicante High Court confirmed the sentence and payment of €132,000 compensation for the victim’s five children.
The tribunal rejected an appeal against an earlier ruling, stressing that the drowning was not the outcome of “mere distraction,” as the lifeguards had claimed.
The Basseta de l’Oli  beach is adapted for the elderly or those with mobility problems and the victim was clearly a user of the accessible beach facility, the judges said, as she had arrived in a vehicle belonging to the DYA Asociacion Ayuda en Carretera, which provided the lifesaving and accessible beach service.
The lifesavers were present on the beach to ensure safety there, but were unaware that the victim had died until a beachgoer reported seeing a body floating 50 metres from the shore, the tribunal pointed out.
The High Court also increased the initial compensation from €103,000 to €132,607 and fined each lifesavers €2,160.