Mothers pay emotional inquest tributes to two youngsters, 12 and 17, who died in a sudden riptide while swimming off Bournemouth beach

Two mothers have paid emotional tributes to their two children at an inquest into how they died following a sudden riptide while swimming off Bournemouth beach.

Joe Abbess, 17, and Sunnah Khan, 12, drowned when they were caught in a riptide while swimming near Bournemouth Pier on May 31 last year.

Eight others were injured during the incident and were treated by paramedics at the scene. 

Joes mother, Vanessa Abbess, said the family has been devastated at the loss of their generous, loving, caring, hard-working and funny son.

Mrs Abbess read a pen portrait and a statement on behalf of herself and her husband Peter, paying tribute to the 17-year-old trainee chef for Southampton Football Club.

Joe Abbess (pictured) who drowned off Bournemouth beach in May last year. Joes mother, Vanessa Abbess, said the family has been devastated at the loss of their generous, loving, caring, hard-working and funny son

Sunnah Khan (pictured) also drowned during the fatal incident. Reading her pen portrait of Sunnah, Stephanie Williams said that her daughter was incredibly popular at school and fiercely protective of her family

She told the hearing at Dorset Coroners Court in Bournemouth: Joe was a wonderful son, brother and friend and we are all devastated by his death, he is greatly missed.

Our family and friends will always love him and we are incredibly proud of the fabulous young man he was.

Joe was generous, loving, caring, hard-working and funny. We were privileged to have him in our lives for 17 years and we are all so sorry that he will never be able to fulfil his dreams and ambitions.

Joe had a great life ahead of him and it is so tragic that he was snatched away from it. We all find a future without him in our lives very difficult to comprehend.

Reading her pen portrait of Sunnah, Stephanie Williams said that her daughter was incredibly popular at school and fiercely protective of her family.

Fighting back her emotions, said: At her core, Sunnah was kind, funny, reliable, smart and incredibly beautiful. Her smile lit up a room and her laugh was infectious.

She cared about so many people and would do anything for her family and friends. She was a force of nature, to know her was to be truly lucky. We have missed her and will continue to miss her for the rest of our lives.

Both families thanked the emergency services for their efforts to save Joe and Sunnah.

Mrs Abbess said: Joe had a great life ahead of him and it is so tragic that he was snatched away from it. We all find a future without him in our lives very difficult to comprehend

Sunnahs mother, Stephanie Williams (pictured left) said: said: At her core, Sunnah was kind, funny, reliable, smart and incredibly beautiful. Her smile lit up a room and her laugh was infectious

Following the fatal incident, Dorset Police impounded the pleasure cruiser Dorset Belle - which ran trips from Bournemouth Pier -  and arrested a man in his 40s on suspicion of manslaughter.

But after consulting an expert as part of its investigation, the force said it had made the evidence-based decision that the movement of the Dorset Belle did not contribute to creating dangerous sea conditions during the incident.

The force said the arrested man would face no further action.

During a pre-inquest review, coroner Rachael Griffin said the Dorset Belle was not a factor in their deaths.

She said: I have ruled out the involvement of the Dorset Belle and it being a causative and contributory factor in Joe and Sunnahs death.

It would be speculative to link that boat to the deaths but also its important that within the evidence there may be reference to previous incidents.

There is no evidence that the boat was previously involved in previous incidents, again that is speculative to say it was.

Mrs Abbess said that Joe had gone to the beach that day with a big group of friends, including his best friend Joe G, and she had messaged him at 3.45pm: Hope youre having fun at the beach. Its so warm, dont forget to apply suncream and drink water.

She said: When we looked back through the records, it came to our attention that this message was sent at the exact same time the incident was unfolding, so perhaps it was an intuition, maybe something had alerted me in the depths of my mind that I felt I needed to message Joe to check in on him.

Following the fatal incident, Dorset Police impounded the pleasure cruiser Dorset Belle (circled) - which ran trips from Bournemouth Pier. During a pre-inquest review, coroner Rachael Griffin said the Dorset Belle was not a factor in their deaths

Harriet Short, who represents the family, took over reading the statement on behalf of Mrs Abbess who had become too emotional to continue.

She said that at 4.27pm, Mrs Abbess received a call from her sons friend, Nieve, and added: Nieve sounded very panicked and said there had been an incident in the sea involving Joe.

She said there were lifeguards and that they were trying to get Joe and Tom out of the water. She sounded hysterical.

At this time, I was very shocked and was wondering what was going on but was unaware of the extent of it.

Mrs Abbess then received calls from the police and in a call at 5.41pm, an officer passed her to an A&E consultant at the hospital who asked if they had left home yet.

She said in her statement: They told me that there was no need to rush as they couldnt do any more for Joe.

He had been unconscious since coming out of the sea and they had to call it as there wasnt any more they could do to bring him back.

I was devastated and so shocked at this news, I fell to my knees and sobbed, I was on my own and utterly heartbroken that Joe had died. It was so hard to believe, as he had left home healthy and strong just a few hours earlier.

In her statement, Mrs Abbess said they went to Bournemouth hospital that evening where she and her husband saw Joes body.

Mrs Abbess said that she was concerned that there were insufficient lifeguards on duty on the day of the incident and by the first anniversary, there had been no signage put up warning of the dangers.

Joe was training to be a chef at Southampton Football Club. Mrs Abbess said in her statement that Joes funeral was held on June 29 with 300 people attending  followed by a wake at Southampton Football Clubs St Marys stadium

She said: We question whether there were enough lifeguards on the beach initially to deal with the incident and whether they had experience in dealing with such large-scale incidents as there were so many casualties.

We question whether the area of sea where Joe died should have been a flagged safe swimming zone and whether it ought to have been redefined as unsafe following a riptide incident in August 2021.

We understand that emerging rip currents can happen very suddenly and be very ferocious, so feel watching the area from the shore may have been insufficient for public safety.

So yet again, based on the historic incidents in this location, why were safe swimming flags in place in a potentially dangerous area that day?

We feel that Joe and Sunnahs deaths, all casualties and the entire incident could have been preventable if the flagged safe swimming zone had been reassessed.

Mrs Abbess said in her statement that Joes funeral was held on June 29 with 300 people attending followed by a wake at Southampton Football Clubs St Marys stadium.

She added: After Joes death, his friends who were at the beach with him when he died were still reeling from shock and it had such an impact on them.

All of Joes friends still come to visit us often. Joe G told us that he was there with Joe the whole time whilst he was being worked on by the lifeguards/paramedics after coming out of the sea.

She added: Joe was so happy and enjoying life to the full until right before he died. He was working, enjoying college and loved spending time with his family and friends.

During Joes final week, he had some fun with his friends and was having a great day at the beach in Bournemouth before tragedy struck.

Mrs Abbess said the family was campaigning for improved education on sea safety in schools working with the RLSS UK (Royal Life Saving Society) in Joe and Sunnahs memory.

She said: We have had a lot of time to reflect since Joe passed away. We think there should be more education for people about the dangers of the sea/water and to try and save others lives, so we have been raising awareness about this.

Joe always cared for others, so we want to do this for him.

The inquest continues.