Nearly three years after a woman was electrocuted to death in a Caribbean hotel swimming pool, a jury has returned a verdict of manslaughter, according to the Daily Mail.
"We are very hopeful that criminal proceedings will follow, but have been warned that this could take years," the victim's mother told reporters.
Hannah Defoe, the cousin of English footballer player Jermaine Defoe, was staying at Juliette’s Lodge hotel in St Lucia in July 2012 when the incident occurred. But a UK investigation had been postponed numerous times due to a lack of information coming from St. Lucian authorities.
The family of Defoe is hoping key reports and witness statements will be considered in the UK inquest, which now can move forward as a result of the verdict. That information includes criticisms of electrical installations and safety checks, according to the news agency.
Incidents such as this are rare, though not uncommon. In 2013, Texas officials investigated the death of a man who saved his brother and mother from a Houston swimming pool that allegedly had undergone shoddy electrical work.
More recently, this issue has arisen with residential swimming pools, prompting debate among industry experts and new laws implemented in the state of Florida. Read More
