Shots of a group of people sliding and skating on a frozen lake a few days later Four boys died after falling into the freezing water It raised concerns such as emergency services across the country Urge people to stay away from ice water.
Disturbing footage shows a group of people frolicking in a frozen lake in Sefton Park, Liverpool, on December 14 – three days after brothers Finley and Samuel Butler, aged eight and six, and their cousin Thomas Steward, aged 11 and 10, died. Jack Johnson all drowned in the water in Solihull, West Midlands, resulting in their deaths.
The tragedy prompted emergency services to warn people about the dangers of walking on frozen lakes and ponds, but the group in Liverpool seemed unconcerned – reportedly telling people they were ‘old enough to make our own decisions’.
Footage captured by onlooker Nick Robinson, 49, shows the group taking selfies, kicking a soccer ball and skating on the frozen lake.
He said: “All I could think was that it was impossible for these people to see the story of these little boys in Solihull and I was amazed.
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One woman went out onto the ice, then like a lemon, the rest followed her until there were ten of them on the ice.
“A woman running past shouted at them to get off the ice, but they wouldn’t listen.”
He added: “They stayed on the ice for about 15-20 minutes and then two guards came and shouted at them to get off the ice.
They all started shouting abuse, and one of the women, who was in her late 20s to early 30s, shouted, “Who do you think you’re talking to, we’re old enough to make our own decisions.”
“The guards gave them a warning and eventually got off the ice but the assault continued.
“At some point they were getting really close to the darkest part of the ice, where it is thinner.”
Similar incidents across the country have prompted warnings from police forces, including in St Albans, Hertfordshire, where people were filmed squeezing into a frozen pond, and Lincolnshire, where police said two young boys walked across a canal in Grantham and three other boys. He went to a frozen lake in Horncastle.
Police in Cambridgeshire, Telford and Suffolk have also reported similar incidents.
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