Police in Hayle have issued a warning to parents after an underage teenager suffered a back injury after allegedly drinking vodka and jumping off a cliff at a beach party.
From around 2pm on Thursday, May 31, large numbers of teenagers gathered on the Towans in Hayle, which appeared to be as a result of the Year 11 students breaking up from local schools.
A police spokesperson said: “Many of those gathered had done so to enjoy themselves responsibly, some were playing on the beach, swimming and having a barbecue.
“However there were a large number who had brought alcohol with them, alcohol which ranged from lager and cider to much stronger spirits.
“Upon police attendance there was generally a good reception to police presence, and most handed over alcohol with no problems at all. The assembled group were advised to enjoy their afternoon responsibly and to clear up after themselves.
“There was unfortunately a small minority who did not comply with police requests to behave responsibly. RNLI lifeguards made a call to police with concerns over more alcohol being consumed in the area and young people under the influence going into the water.”
When police re-attended they found a 16-year-old girl who had allegedly consumed a large amount of vodka and had jumped from a high point on the Towans and fallen around 12-14 feet and landed straight onto her back.
RNLI lifeguards attended, providing initial stabilising first aid and paramedics soon attended. Members of the HM Coastguard also attended and due to the concern around the possibility of a potentially serious back injury the Cornwall Air Ambulance was called.
The Air Ambulance crew landed on Gwithian beach, and lifted the injured girl to a local campsite where she was transferred to a land ambulance and taken to Royal Cornwall Hospital in Treliske for treatment.
PC John Fulker of Hayle Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “On this occasion many hours of emergency services time has been occupied by the actions of a young person who has been unwisely consuming alcohol in a location which is potentially dangerous given their drunken state.
“Four police officers, five RNLI lifeguards, six paramedics and the crew of the air ambulance have been involved in the medical and transport aspects of this incident. This is what we do, and I would like to praise the professionalism of all the personnel from the different agencies. But I have to be concerned about the continued issues arising from young people who are not old enough to consume alcohol, and most especially the issues arising from them doing so in dangerous locations like the Towans.
“Incidents like this will occur all the time that this carries on. I would ask all parents of children in the area to consider what their children are doing when they are not being supervised directly, and to try to mitigate the possibility of these kinds of accidents.”
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