A FORMER policewoman who completed a 100-mile charity paddle down the Wye seven days before four paddleboarders died on a commercial trip she organised has admitted four charges of gross negligence manslaughter.

Nerys Bethan Lloyd, 39, from Port Talbot, who was a serving police officer at the time, owned Salty Dog, the now-dissolved paddleboard company responsible for the tragic trip, that saw a male instructor and three women drown in flood conditions under a Haverfordwest river weir in October 2021.

She and one of the victims, 42-year-old ex-soldier Paul O'Dwyer, had paddled from Glasbury down the Wye past Ross and Monmouth the previous weekend, before finishing a 100-mile 24-hour charity paddle in Tintern.

Swansea Crown Court heard that days later she ran a paddleboard trip on the Cleddau in "extremely hazardous" flood conditions and had failed to check the danger presented by the weir, where the force of water trapped four of the eight capsized paddlers underneath - including Mr O'Dwyer, an instructor on the trip, who dived back in to try and rescue them.

A joint Dyfed Police and Health and Safety Executive investigation found she did not have a suitable qualification to run the tour, and hadn't carried out a proper risk assesment or briefed the inexperienced paddlers properly.

Lisa Rose, specialist prosecutor with the CPS special crime division, said: "It was an avoidable tragedy. Despite going to check the state of the river before departing on the tour, Nerys Lloyd failed to inspect the weir," she said.

"The majority of participants had limited experience, and Lloyd was not qualified to take paddleboarders out in such hazardous conditions.

"There was no safety briefing or formal risk assessments, and the participants were not advised that they would be traversing a weir or instructed on options to get out of the water."

Mr O'Dwyer from Port Talbot, Morgan Rogers, 24, from Merthyr, and Nicola Wheatley, 40, of Pontarddulais died at the scene, while Amanda Powell, 41, from Bridgend died in hospital two weeks later.

"Final decisions to continue with the event were Lloyd's decision, and as a result she held complete and entire responsibility," added the prosecutor

"I hope these convictions provide some sense of justice for those affected and our thoughts remain with the families and friends of the victims at this time."

Lloyd, who appeared in the dock wearing a blue shirt and dark trousers and using crutches, also admitted one offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

She was bailed to await sentence on 15 April.

A Marine Accidents Investigation Board report in 2022 ruled that the four victims were trapped by "hydraulic towback with no means of escape" at the weir and the deaths were “tragic and avoidable”.

Chief inspector of marine accidents Andrew Moll said: "Stand-up paddleboarding is probably the fastest-growing UK water sport with participation in recent years growing by nearly 300 per cent.

"However, like all water sports, those that buy or rent a paddleboard need to understand the risks."