Shropshire Star

Boy, 16, killed in Patshull Park pool horror named

A 16-year-old boy from Shropshire died after a car ploughed through a hedge and crashed into a 35ft-deep fishing lake at a top hotel.

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The Great Pool

A 16-year-old boy from Shropshire died after a car ploughed through a hedge and crashed into a 35ft-deep fishing lake at a top hotel.

Ben Henshaw, of Alveley, near Bridgnorth, was in the back seat of the car.

An 18-year-old man at the wheel of the car and his other passenger, a 15-year-old girl, managed to swim to safety following the accident yesterday. The two, also from Shropshire, were treated at the scene by paramedics.

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But 16-year-old Ben did not surface.

His body was eventually pulled from the water more than five hours later by specialist underwater divers.

The accident happened at the lake, known as the Great Pool, at Patshull Park Hotel, Golf & Country Club, Pattingham, near Bridgnorth in the early hours.

The tragedy came exactly two years to the day after a 26-year-old man drowned in the Great Pool after going for a late-night swim at a wedding.

Police today said 16-year-old Ben had been a back-seat passenger in a silver Peugeot 306 that crashed into the lake during the early hours.

Crash investigator Pc Chris Clarke said today officers were working to establish the cause of the smash.

"A reconstruction of the incident has been done and we have taken some measurements from the scene for a full report," he added.

Police were called to the lake shortly before 12.30am.

Officers had received reports the Peugeot had left Patshull Road, gone through a hedge and entered water.

The two teenagers who freed themselves from the car were treated for minor injuries by ambulance crews and a rescue operation was launched for their friend.

Specialist divers spent yesterday searching for the teenager. His body was recovered at 5.45pm.

The ambulance service said they were called to reports of a car having left the road and into the lake.

Read more in today's Shropshire Star

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