Crew watched woman drown with head trapped between rocks, inquest hears

Emergency services failed to rescue a woman who drowned after her head was trapped between two rocks as they lacked the proper equipment, an inquest heard.

Saffron Cole-Nottage died after becoming trapped between sea defense rocks while walking her dog on the Esplanade in Lowestoft, Suffolk in February 2025.

Coastguard and ambulance staff arrived on the scene but said no attempt was made to rescue the 32-year-old because they were not wearing PPE.

Firefighter Jason Wilkins said the team were unable to save Ms Cole-Nottage because they ‘had no equipment with them and it would go against their policy to go down without equipment’.

Four fire crews, 12 firefighters and a specialist team were on hand to rescue the mother, Daily Mail reported.

Another firefighter, Ben Whale, told the inquest he believed Ms Cole-Nottage could have been saved despite the cold conditions.

He said the rescue operation ‘did not feel quite right’ and that the rescue was a ‘simple manual manipulation’.

A statement read out on behalf of Ms Cole-Nottage’s partner Michael thanked emergency services for their efforts.

The inquest also heard that rescue efforts were further hindered because the ambulance call handler failed to make it clear fire crews were needed.

Elizabeth Pardon, a crew commander for the fire service control room, said it was not clear whether their service was being requested or not.

She clarified that the fire service did routinely attend emergencies at sea.

Another call handler, Megan Dunkley, said it was unclear whether ‘we were needed or requested by another agency’.

The court was told it had become normal practice for ambulance crews to alert the fire and rescue service of incidents they were attending to, whether the fire brigade were required or not.

Firefighter Sebastian Harrod said fire crews arrived at the scene at 8.22pm and performed CPR on the drowning woman within eight minutes.

But the inquest heard that paramedics and police had already declared the incident a Recognition of Life Extinct (ROLE).

Volunteer Coastguard Matthew Knight said he drove to the scene in a ‘calmer manner’ than he otherwise would have done as he believed it was too late to save the mother.

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