Family win battle for hotel safety checks after their son, 18, fell 50 feet to his death over Magaluf balcony – the third tourist to die at the resort in one year
- Tom Channon, 18, fell 50ft to his death over a knee-high wall at a Magaluf hotel
- He died just a month after another holidaymaker died in a fall at the same hotel
- The Foreign Office has gained the ability to carry out ‘Tom’s Check’ at hotels
- This will allow consular staff to liaise with hotels and carry out safety checks
Tom Channon, 18, was celebrating the end of his A-levels on holiday with friends when he fell 50ft to his death over a knee-high wall
A heartbroken family has won a battle for safety checks at Spanish hotels after the death of a British teenager from a Magaluf balcony.
Tom Channon, 18, was celebrating the end of his A-levels on holiday with friends when he fell 50ft to his death over a knee-high wall at the Eden Roc complex in Majorca, in July 2018.
His parents were devastated to learn Tom died just a month after another young British holidaymaker, Thomas Hughes, 20, died in a fall at the same hotel in June that year – and no fence had been erected.
A third Briton, Natalie Cormack, 19, from West Kilbridge, Ayrshire, also died at the Eden Roc complex in April 2018 while trying to climb from one balcony to the other.
The Foreign Office has now gained the ability to carry out ‘Tom’s Check’ at hotels they fear may need additional safety measures.
The checks allow consular staff to liaise with hotels and carry out safety checks at resorts.
‘Tom’s Check’ is part of a training programme for staff at the British consulate seeking to improve the safety of holidaymakers.
It will make sure that staff at the consulate meet with the relevant authority and request they visit the site to address any safety concerns that have been raised.
Tom’s Check will then request that consulate staff, and families, meet with police to understand an investigations or safety concerns.
A plan will then be agreed with the family to identify where consulate staff can look to take action.
The measures will be tested by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and any adjustments will be made in the Balearics in summer 2022 before it is rolled out to other resorts.
‘Tom’s Check’ is part of a training programme for staff at the British consulate seeking to improve the safety of holidaymakers.
The checks allow consular staff to liaise with hotels and carry out safety checks at resorts.
It will also make sure that staff at the consulate meet with the relevant authority and request they visit the site to address any safety concerns that have been raised.
Tom’s Check will then request that consulate staff, and families, meet with police to understand an investigations or safety concerns.
A plan will then be agreed with the family to identify where consulate staff can look to take action.
The measures will be tested by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and any adjustments will be made in the Balearics in summer 2022 before it is rolled out to other resorts.
Tom’s father, business consultant John, 69, and his midwife mother Ceri, 51, say they are now ‘proud’ of the changes achieved in Tom’s name.
Mr Channon, of Rhoose, near Barry, said that when they visited Mallorca following Tom’s death the ‘biggest shock of all’ was finding out no actions were taken despite the previous accident.
He said: ‘Perhaps things hadn’t been done that you might’ve expected would’ve been done’.
‘On the Majorcan side, quite clearly, there had been an accident only five weeks previously but absolutely nothing had been done to make that area safe.’
Mr Channon said: ‘If any of that can help to save just one single life, that clearly will be something that we can say was in Tom’s memory.’
Mrs Channon, who has two other sons, said: ‘We’ve always said we’re always five and we are. I always think of Tom in the present, never in the past, but you’re living a life you never imagined.
‘It’s just finding a way to push on, in a way that would make him proud.’
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: ‘We continue to work with Tom’s parents to ensure families have access to the information they need, and build on our work in preventing tragic accidents from happening in the future.’
An inquest into Tom’s death in June 2019 revealed no safety measures were installed at the hotel the teenager was staying at after fellow tourist Thomas Hughes, 20, died just weeks before.
The inquest heard Tom had been staying at nearby Hotel Florida but wandered into the wrong complex when he was separated from his friends.
His body was found at the apartments on July 12 and a call was made to Spanish authorities at 10.05am.
Mr Channon called for urgent safety changes following his son’s tragic death.
Speaking at the time, he said: ‘He was like any other young person of that age, full of life. I think we all know that a lot of young people come to Magaluf.
‘They want to have a good time, they want to enjoy themselves, they want to have a drink, they want to go on the beach, they want to party and it’s quite clearly a major issue in Magaluf.
‘Tom didn’t die in vain and we will push to make sure we have some answers and to make sure something is in place urgently to make sure you’re not put in this position again listening, perhaps, to some other poor grieving parent who is in the same position.’
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