Father and son drowned after being swept out to sea in Australia, inquest told

A father and son from south Wales drowned after being swept out to sea while on holiday in Australia, an inquest has heard.

Robin Reed, 46, and his son Owen, 17, from Caerphilly county, were on a day trip to a beach at Round Hill Head, Seventeen Seventy, in Queensland on April 13.

Gwent Coroner’s Court heard Owen had been swimming in water that was waist deep with other children when the conditions suddenly worsened and he was swept out to sea.

Mr Reed immediately entered the water to rescue his son, along with a man named Michael Evans, but they also got into difficulty.

Emergency services attended the scene and later recovered the bodies of Mr Reed and Owen, who were later confirmed to have died by drowning.

Rose Farmer, area coroner for Gwent, reached a conclusion of death by misadventure for Mr Reed and Owen following an inquest on Wednesday.

“On April 13 2025, Owen and Robin Reed were with members of their family, along with Mr Evans, visiting Seventeen Seventy,” she said.

“They hadn’t been there before and didn’t see any warning signs.

“Owen, with other members of the family, went into the water and it appeared calm close to shore but the conditions took a turn for the worse and without warning, he was suddenly swept away by the water.

“His father, Robin, and Michael went into the water after him to try to assist him.

“Michael was pulled from the water with the help of others but Robin and Oliver could no longer be seen.

“Emergency services were contacted and police, ambulance services and fire and rescue and a retrieval helicopter all attended and searched for Owen and Robin.

“At approximately 4pm, Owen’s body was washed ashore and he was declared life extinct at 4.15pm. At 4.30pm, Robin was spotted by those in the helicopter. He was declared life extinct at 4.45pm.”

She said Mr Reed died “from the effects of drowning while trying to rescue his son who had got into difficulty in the sea”.

Signage 

Ms Farmer recorded that Owen had died “from the effects of drowning when sea conditions worsened and he was swept out to sea”.

The inquest heard how the Reed family had flown to Brisbane on April 10 to visit husband and wife Michael and Shayane Evans and their children.

Mrs Evans described how they travelled to Seventeen Seventy on April 13, arriving in the car park before walking down a track to the beach.

“There was no signage at all,” she said.

“I didn’t see any ‘no swimming’ signs or signs saying you couldn’t go down the track.”

Mr Reed, Mr Evans and the children went straight into the water before getting out about 10 minutes later to go to rock pools on the beach.

Rescue

Owen and two other children then returned to the sea, with the water at waist height, Mrs Evans said.

“I’m not sure if a wave hit him and he lost his footing but I could see Owen starting to drift out in a rip,” she said.

“He was only a few metres off the rocks as he was swept past.”

Mrs Evans shouted to her husband, who ran straight to the water along with Mr Reed, and they tried to rescue Owen.

Mr Evans, in a statement, said he had not seen any warning signs and there was no fencing to prevent people from accessing the sea.

He described the water as “a little choppy but nothing dangerous” when they first went in, with it appearing to have “calmed down” when Owen and the other children returned.

“Owen went out further than the others but he was older and taller,” Mr Evans said.

“It turned in an instant. Huge waves started coming in. One second he was there and the next, he wasn’t.

“He wasn’t anywhere near where he was originally. He was fighting to keep his head above the water.”

'Too rough' 

Mr Evans described entering the water with Mr Reed to rescue Owen.

“The water felt like a bus hitting me,” he said.

“It was rough and picking me up. It was too rough to swim in. There was wave after wave rolling in the water.”

The inquest heard Mr Evans became trapped between rocks and was rescued by tourists.

Dr Jack Garland, a pathologist, recorded the cause of death for both Mr Reed and Owen as drowning.