Canoe firm owner defends record

David Phillips died after the boat he was in overturned

An outdoor pursuits company owner has defended his safety record after a man who hired one of his canoes drowned.

David Phillips, 68, from Haddenham near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, died when the boat he and his wife Brenda were in overturned on 2 August 2004.

They hired the canoe from David Proctor of Bethania Adventure, who runs his business from Lake Vyrnwy, Powys.

At Wrexham magistrates' court he denies three charges under the Health and Safety Act.

The three charges relate to the buoyancy aids the couple were given, his safety sweeps of the lake, and his monitoring of its boundaries.

Giving evidence in court, Mr Proctor, of Llanwddyn, near Llanfyllin, defended an invisible lake boundary, an imaginary line drawn between two landmarks on either side of the shore, which canoeists were not allowed to cross.

'Extensive qualifications'

Mr Proctor said Severn Trent, the water company which leases part of the lake to him, would not allow the area to be marked with buoys.

He also defended the verbal briefing he gave people who leased boats from him and said it had been approved by the relevant regulatory body.

David Proctor defended an invisible boundary on the lake

Mr Proctor said he gave the verbal briefing to Mr and Mrs Phillips, as he did to everyone else. He said: "It is a practiced routine - I must have issued many thousands of briefings over the years."

Under cross-examination, Mr Proctor said he had extensive qualifications for the job he was in and was an accredited canoe and kayak coach, a raft guide, as well as being a swift water rescue instructor.

He added that he had extensive rescue experience, was a caretaker observer for the local metrological office, and had experience of outdoor pursuits in the Lake Vyrnwy area stretching back 23 years.

Earlier, the court heard from the a couple who were on the lake on the day of the tragedy in 2004.

They said they had gone beyond the invisible boundary on a previous visit to the lake.

"Didn't the knowledge that people routinely go to the far side of the lake make you complacent?" Owen Edwards, prosecuting, asked Mr Proctor.

"No, indeed not," Mr Proctor said.

Mr Edwards told the court that it took up to an hour from when the Phillipses' canoe was noticed to be missing to Mr Proctor reaching the capsized boat, which was beyond the boundary.

Mr Edwards said this showed Mr Proctor was not carrying out his safety sweeps properly.

The trial continues.