THE mother of a 17-year-old boy who drowned on a daytrip from a secure unit has criticised the level of supervision he received.

Samuel James Willis, from Stockton, died after getting into trouble while paddling in the North Sea, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, in August last year.

The teenager, known as Sammy, was on a supervised outing with two fellow patients from the Roycroft Clinic, in Newcastle.

Sammy’s mother, Paula Suckling, spoke at the end of a three-day inquest into his death.

She said: “I believe that, if more care and supervision was in place, my son would still be alive.

“I would like to thank everybody involved in trying to save my son.

“This has been very upsetting for myself and my family.”

The Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the clinic, carried out an internal investigation into the tragedy.

Youngsters in the trust’s care are no longer allowed to swim or paddle in open water.

A spokesman said: “Sammy’s death was a tragic accident and we were all shocked and devastated by it.

“Our thoughts and sincerest condolences have always been with his family and friends.

“Neither our own internal investigation, the Health and Safety Executive, or the coroner have suggested that our level of staffing was inadequate.”

Coroner Michael Oakley commended those who went to help Sammy and his companions.

RNLI lifeguards Joshua Jones and Megan Ellis swam out to help, as did teenage brothers Thomas and Joseph Ellis.

Mr Oakley described the brothers’ actions as “selfless”.

He said: “Lifeguards are trained for this sort of work, but both should be commended.

“Mr Jones swam a considerable distance, about 300m, in difficult conditions, to get to Sammy in the water.

“He then carried out resuscitation in the water, when he must have been extremely exhausted himself.”

Summing up the evidence before the jury retired to consider its verdict, Mr Oakley said: “There may have been some shortcomings, as far as risk assessment is concerned, but these are not major shortcomings on the part of the trust.

“In an ideal world, we may think that more lifeguards may have been covering such a large area of beach.

“In fairness, the safe swimming area was clearly denoted.”

The jury recorded a verdict of misadventure.