Plymouth boy, 5, drowned at holiday park hours after arrival, inquest hears

Robin Van Caliskan died after getting into difficulty

An inquest heard that a young boy tragically drowned at a holiday park pool, which his parents had chosen due to its perceived safety. Robin Van Caliskan lost his life at the Newquay resort of Atlantic Reach after encountering difficulties in the swimming pool just hours after his family set up their tent at the White Cross site, located just outside the coastal town.

The inquiry into the five year old's death revealed that Cemal and Ferzane Caliskan, along with their two children - Robin and six-month-old Renas - had planned a three-night getaway in Cornwall.

Originally from Turkey, the family was living in the Plymouth area at the time. They arrived at the holiday park at 2pm on August 31 last year, during the summer holidays, and decided to take a dip in the pool after setting up their tent.

On the first day of a two-day jury inquest in Truro today (Tuesday, September 17), it was disclosed that the Caliskans visited the pool around 4.45pm after booking a slot with reception. Although Robin had taken swimming lessons, he was not an accomplished swimmer.

He entered the adult pool with his father while his younger brother joined his mother in the baby pool. The two pools are divided by frosted glass, limiting visibility, reports Cornwall Live.

After about 10 minutes, Robin and his father joined Ferzane and Renas in the baby pool before he returned to the larger pool with his mother. Cemal, Robin's father, expressed uncertainty about whether his wife knew that Robin was with her.

Speaking through an interpreter at the inquest, he said: "It was so crowded in the big pool. I can't be 100 per cent sure that Robin was behind her. There was a child near her and I thought it was Robin."

He added: "The frosted glass gave a false belief that I was looking at my son when I wasn't."

The inquest heard that Robin's mother exited the unguarded main pool to return to the baby pool, only to discover that Robin was not with her. The young boy was subsequently discovered unconscious at the bottom of the pool. Bystanders quickly retrieved him and commenced CPR.

Mr Caliskan said: "We saw a group of people pulling someone out of the pool. We went to see and we saw two people giving treatment to Robin."

Despite the efforts of paramedics who arrived on scene and attempted resuscitation for 30 minutes, Robin was tragically pronounced dead. The postmortem confirmed drowning as the medical cause of death.

Mr Caliskan told the inquest that they had chosen Atlantic Reach holiday park after researching it online because it had a pool and it looked safe.

He told the hearing that the family had been under the impression there would be lifeguards on site, as pictures on the Atlantic Reach's website and on Facebook showed lifeguards at the pool. He said the correspondence from Atlantic Reach did not say either way whether there would or would not be lifeguards present at the pool.

The inquest was shown photographs of the pool room and signage dotted around the site, warning pool users that no life guards were on duty that day. Other signs said that children under the age of eight must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Mr Caliskan said he did not see any warning signs adding that had there been signs about the lack of lifeguards, he would have been able to read them even though his first language is Turkish. He also said that the lighting in the pool room at the time was not as bright as it should be which made the water look really dark and not as transparent as it could have been.

He said: "If I had seen those signs I would have gone back to the park and asked about the lifeguards as I thought there would be lifeguards."

The inquest continues.