Inquest Finds Festival Lacking Emergency Plan On The Night Of Drowning

An inquest into the drowning of a 34-year-old Irish tourist at Sydney's Vivid Festival in 2014 has concluded that the event was unprepared for such an emergency.

As ABC reports, the inquest determined there was 'no emergency plan' to deal with Brendan Hickey falling into Cockle Bay while heavily intoxicated around 11pm during the May 23 festival, as a person in the water wasn’t included in their risk assessment procedure.

Event organiser at the time, Michael Prescott reportedly did not implement show stop procedures once he became aware of the situation, thinking it would be easier to look for Hickey with punters stationary, rather than moving around.

ABC also reports a coronial inquest in April revealed that Hickey could not swim, with Counsel Assisting the Inquest, Mark Cahill, stating there was little real prospect of preventing a drowning when Mr Hickey entered the water".