to our crime newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\nA two-day inquest into his death was held on Monday and Tuesday at the Guildhall in Swansea where assistant coroner Edward Ramsay heard evidence from different witnesses.<\/p>\n
Having gone into the river with his friend Kane got into difficulty and was seen to go under the water. During the rescue attempt it became apparent that \u201cdebris\u201d in the river, unseen from above the water, had played a part in his death with Kane unable to free himself having become trapped.<\/p>\n
A family member in attendance at the hearing said they had heard reports youngsters continued to swim in the same section of the river despite the tragedy and asked whether a barrier should be put in place which could help restrict access to the river from a footpath that runs alongside it. The family also said the area was a \u201cnotorious\u201d spot that children use and that they are worried that \u201cthis will happen again\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_RH190825TaweJPG.jpg\")
An area of the River Tawe in Swansea where 13-year-old Kane Edwards died in May 2022(Image: Google)<\/p>\n
Andrew Suter, Swansea Council\u2019s water safety coordinator, spoke at the inquest and said there are plans in place to introduce foliage along the footpath which will make access to the water more difficult. He also said that six signs have been added at the location \u2013 five along the footpath and one on a fishing platform \u2013 advising people not to swim in the river.<\/p>\n
Assistant coroner Mr Ramsay confirmed that the cause of Kane\u2019s death was \u201cconsistent with drowning\u201d. He said: \u201cKane died by drowning as a consequence of having become trapped by underwater debris in fast-flowing water of the River Tawe at around 4.50pm on May 24, 2022.”<\/p>\n
Referencing earlier evidence that detailed a lack of clarity about the precise location of the incident due to issues with the location reference app what3words and whether a delay in pinpointing the exact spot along the river had affected the outcome Mr Ramsay said: \u201cI am satisfied on the evidence that although there may have been some delays because of confusions about precisely where it was, these delays had no causative effect on the outcome.<\/p>\n
“Kane tragically drowned at around the time he was last seen by his friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Ramsay added that the call to the emergency services was made at 4.50pm on that day and by that time Kane was already submerged in the water.<\/p>\n
He said Kane would have been \u201cunaware of the hazards\u201d in the river which meant he was unable to swim to safety, adding that it was not entirely clear if the debris which caused the teenager to become trapped was a fallen tree or a discarded trolley.<\/p>\n
Recording a short-form conclusion Mr Ramsay found Kane died as a result of an accident.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my judgement Kane was not aware of the risks below the water line that were causative to the death and I have no reason to doubt that he had no awareness of the very real danger that was in the water in front of him,” he said.<\/p>\n
A statement read to the hearing on behalf of the Edwards family said: \u201cKane was taken from us in a tragic accident. We are thankful to the emergency services for all their efforts on the day. We also want to thank the community of Morriston.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Ramsay closed the inquest by offering his \u201csincere sympathies and condolences\u201d to Kane\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
Why we cover inquests \u2013 and why it’s so important that we do<\/p>\n
As painful as these proceedings are for those who have lost a loved one the lessons that can be learned from inquests can go a long way to saving others\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n
The press has a legal right to attend inquests and has a responsibility to report on them as part of their duty to uphold the principle of open justice.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a journalist\u2019s duty to make sure the public understands the reasons why someone has died and to make sure their deaths are not kept secret. An inquest report can also clear up any rumours or suspicion surrounding a person\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
But, most importantly of all, an inquest report can draw attention to circumstances which may stop further deaths from happening.<\/p>\n
Should journalists shy away from attending inquests then an entire arm of the judicial system is not held to account.<\/p>\n
Inquests can often prompt a wider discussion on serious issues, the most recent of these being mental health and suicide.<\/p>\n
Editors actively ask and encourage reporters to speak to the family and friends of a person who is the subject of an inquest. Their contributions help us create a clearer picture of the person who died and also provides the opportunity to pay tribute to their loved one.<\/p>\n
Often families do not wish to speak to the press and of course that decision has to be respected. However, as has been seen by many powerful media campaigns, the input of a person\u2019s family and friends can make all the difference in helping to save others.<\/p>\n
Without the attendance of the press at inquests questions will remain unanswered and lives will be lost.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kane Geraint Edwards got into difficulty after entering the River Tawe in Swansea for a swim with his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,30,4884,35922,1148,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-358358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-courts","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-iya-alert-county","12":"tag-swansea","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115058839786969650","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Kane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/5_RHR_250522KaneEdwards.jpg\")
Kane Edwards(Image: South Wales Police)<\/p>\n