Circuit court upholds water park drowning case acquittal

The Tallinn Circuit Court has upheld the acquittal of defendants in a 2023 drowning death case at a Pärnu water park.
Following an appeal, the circuit court upheld the first tier Pärnu County Court's January 20 ruling acquitting OÜ Tervise Paradiis and its senior instructor, only making changes in respect of legal fees.
On March 11, 2023, a man who was a guest at the park drowned after being pushed into its four-meter-deep pool, with the prosecution arguing the park did not ensure the victim receive the timely and appropriate assistance that might have saved his life.
Senior instructor Gert Kuusik of Tervise Paradiis was accused of appointing an unqualified substitute during a missing duty instructor's shift, a substitute who lacked necessary training and skills to handle emergencies, but both courts found the senior instructor had not violated his duty of care and bore no responsibility for the customer's death.
The circuit court found that neither current law nor OÜ Tervise Paradiis' own regulations called for prior training for a duty instructor, meaning the senior instructor had not breached his duty of care. Since the company's liability depended on whether the accusation against the senior instructor was justified, its acquittal also remained unaltered, and the civil claim remained unexamined; the circuit court adjusted the county court's ruling only with respect to the legal costs awarded, in favor of OÜ Tervise Paradiis.
The judgment has not yet entered into force and may be appealed with the Supreme Court within 30 days.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Marko Tooming










