An inquest into the drowning of a 12-year-old Somalian refugee in the River Irwell has recorded a conclusion of accidental death.
Shukri Abdi, 12, died after getting into difficulties in the river in Bury during a heatwave in June 2019.
At the time of her death she was with four other children, who for legal reasons can only be referred to as Child one, two, three and four.
The inquest heard how Child One encouraged Shukri to go into the water despite knowing she couldn’t swim.
Child one told Shukri she would look after her and would teach her to swim.
Today coroner Joanne Kearsley ruled that meant Child One had a duty of care to Shukri and breached that duty because she should have been able to foresee the risk of drowning.
But that breach, Ms Kearsley said, wasn’t serious enough to warrant a conclusion of gross negligence manslaughter.
Ms Kearsley said Child one was ‘naive and foolish’ and her ‘ill considered’ attempt to teach Shukri to swim went ‘badly wrong’.
Ms Kearsley added: “At it highest this was a serious error of judgement. I am certain the ramifications will be felt by many for a long time.”
Ms Kearsley said that on the ‘balance of probabilities’ Shukri died as a result of an accidental death.
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