Mother whose son drowned 21 years ago at 15 said Solihull frozen lake tragedy brought it ‘all back’

A mother whose fifteen-year-old son drowned 21 years ago has revealed how the Solihull frozen lake tragedy – in which four boys died – brought her child’s death ‘all back’. 

Julie Amiss’s son Frazer died at Powell’s Pool in Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield on July 29, 2001.

On hearing of the tragedy at Babbs Mill Lake in Kingsurst last Sunday, when three boys aged eight, 10 and 11 had died and a six-year-old was fighting for his life, Ms Amiss said she ‘felt sick’. 

The tragedy happened at the Solihull park when the four boys fell into icy water on Sunday December 11 just before 3pm.

They were rescued from the lake by emergency services and treated by paramedics, but were believed to have suffered cardiac arrests.  

All four died as a result of the incident. Three were part of the same family – brothers Finlay Butler, 8, Samuel Butler, 6, and their cousin Thomas Stewart, 11. The fourth boy, Jack Johnson, was 10. 

Six-year-old Sam fought for his life but died on Wednesday December 14 in hospital. 

Ms Amiss, 55, said the boys’ deaths resonated with her strongly after the loss of her son in 2001. 

The mother, who has two other children, one born shortly after Frazer’s death and a daughter who was 12 at the time of the tragedy, said: ‘I heard about it on Monday morning. I just felt sick.

‘Just the extent of how many children were involved. It’s so shocking. It’s heartbreaking. 

‘It does bring it all back. My daughter rang me. She was 12-and-a-half at the time Frazer died and is now in her 30s.’

She added: ‘This brings it back for anybody that experiences that kind of loss, especially a child in that way. They walk out of the door. You think you’re going to see them and they don’t come back.

‘You think of so many things. What could you have done and said? My son was a reasonable swimmer too. That was the hottest day that year. But it’s understanding how cool the water can be.

‘And on Sunday night, when the water is that cold, you’d imagine you’ve got a short space of time to get to them.’ 

The Amiss family lived in the Boldmere area of Sutton at the time, close to Powell’s Pool by the Boldmere Gate entrance to the park. Frazer went to the park with his cousin who Ms Amiss said desperately tried to save him in the water.

‘My children went to a school in the area and Frazer had left school that year in July. His birthday was August 29, just a few weeks away,’ she said. 

‘It happened on July 29, the hottest day of the year, in the early evening. We had a call and we got to the park and there were lots of people there, ambulances, the police helicopter.

‘But the West Midlands Police divers, they were disbanded. There was nobody local in the area to come to rescue or do anything. 

‘Police and fire crews were told not to go in the water at the time. They were told not to risk anything due to health and safety. The rescue crew from Nottingham got there quite late.

‘It was eight or half eight and they had a little go. But then decided to sleep at the side of the lake until it was daylight again. My son’s cousin, my nephew, was with him that day. He tried to help him but he couldn’t hold on to him.’

Ms Amiss, who now lives in Warwickshire but works in Erdington close to where she used to live, added: ‘We are a close family. We all have our hauntings from that and have to live with that every year in the summertime when [similar] things happen.

‘It brings it all back. We think ”how can you make things better? How can we stop this happening to children and educate them really?”

‘I’m 55 now and when I was at school there were drives with safety at schools. They don’t seem to do that now.’

Asked about what she could say to the families affected by the Babbs Mill lake tragedy, Ms Amiss said: ‘There just are no words you can say. There’s nothing people could say that would make me feel better. It’s just heartbreaking news. My heart goes out to them. I just can’t imagine what they must be going through.’