A Butlin’s barmaid was pulled into the sea by a fierce wave and drowned after an argument with her boyfriend, an inquest heard.
Bethany Skinner, 22, was pulled from the water in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, on February 24, 2019.
The Plymouth University art graduate, originally from Taunton, Somerset, died in hospital two days later after suffering brain damage from a lack of oxygen.
An inquest heard Bethany had been working at Butlin’s to pay off her student overdraft, and was due to move to China to teach children English.
She had been out at Sheiks nightclub with a group of friends who all worked at Butlin’s on the night of her death.
Crawley Coroner’s Court heard Bethany and her boyfriend of three months had an argument in the club and were asked to leave by security staff.
In a statement, the bouncer who escorted Bethany outside said she had told him: “I have been trying to please him all night but I can’t do anything right.”
Giving evidence Bethany’s boyfriend Philip Erickson said: “We had a little bit of an argument, she said I was spending too much time with the boys, she was saying she would go home.
“I said I didn’t want her to go home. When she tried to go I grabbed her arm to stop her, and the bouncer thought it was a bigger argument and fight so they told us to leave.
“I would say that I was tipsy. She was on the same level, like drunk, tipsy.”
Mr Erickson said they left the club and Bethany walked ahead of him and down onto the beach, shouting at him to leave her alone.
She then stood with the sea around her legs while he stood a few paces away.
He said: “The tide was very tough. There were lots of waves. She was stood up to her shins where the water is and saying she would go in.
“It all happened so quickly. The wave knocked her a little bit, she was stumbling.”
Mr Erickson jumped in after her, but although he had previously worked as a lifeguard, he had “never seen anything like” the tide that night.
He said: “I was trying to get her. When the waves had come, I had to let go – I couldn’t do anything. I had her by her arm and tried to grab her by her waist and put her over me and swim.
“There were times when the waves would come over us. I have looked back over and she’s gone under.”
Mr Erickson said Bethany was telling him she couldn’t swim and “not to let her die”, but he had to get out and run back to the nightclub for help.
Security staff called emergency services and a lifeboat was launched to rescue her.
Mr Erickson was taken to hospital and attended a police station the next day, where he was arrested on suspicion of an “apparent assault”.
Ian Wheaton, representing the family, said Bethany was “petrified of water” and “avoided it at all costs”.
He also suggested Bethany and Mr Erickson may have had a “physical” fight as a post-mortem found Bethany had a black eye and other bruising to her body.
But assistant coroner Alicia Keen said bruises found were likely a result of being “tumbled” in the sea as her body was carried by the current under the pier.
She said: “In my view that’s complete conjecture. Yes it could be a blow, but given the roughness of the sea, the shingle and the fact she went under the pier I suggest it could be that.”
Giving evidence, Detective Sergeant Graham Leaney from West Sussex Police said they found “no evidence” that Mr Erickson had inflicted any injuries on Bethany.
A police investigation concluded the bruises must have occurred from her time in the sea and no criminal charges were brought against Mr Erickson.
RNLI lifeguard Andrew Harris gave evidence that while rescuing Bethany, a member of his team had fallen out of the boat and it was difficult to land on the beach as the waters were so choppy.
Bethany did not have a pulse but was resuscitated with CPR and taken to St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester.
She was taken to intensive care, where it was found she had suffered “unsurvivable” brain damage as a result of the lack of oxygen.
A pathologist gave a cause of death as multiple organ failure as a result of immersion.
‘Beautiful young woman’
In a statement, Bethany’s family said: “Beth was a beautiful young woman of 22 with her whole life ahead of her. She was cheeky and vivacious as a child and as she got older.
“She was loving and caring towards others, and protective of her younger sisters. She was determined to travel more as it opened her eyes to the world.
“As may be suggested by her degree course, she was very artistic and loved to express herself through art. The family can’t understand what happened that night and will be tormented by not knowing this.”
Giving a conclusion of accidental death, Ms Keen said the water was “high and fierce” on the day of Bethany’s death.
She said: “The weather was very windy, it was high water springs, it’s the biggest tide of two in the year.
“All we can say is that one’s judgement isn’t always at it’s best when we have been drinking.
That may have been part of it, and she was also quite angry with Philip as they continued to argue onto the beach. For whatever reason she stood with her ankles in the water and it then appears she was dragged into the sea by a breaking wave and moving shingle.”
-- to www.walesonline.co.uk
