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Sea cadet who died on training ship 'from Kent'

Jonathan Martin
Jonathan Martin

A sea cadet who fell from a ship’s rigging died from chest injuries, a post mortem examination has revealed.

Jonathan Martin, 14, who attended Cranbrook School, had fallen 20 to 30ft from the training ship TS Royalist at Stokes Bay in the Solent.

A Hampshire Police spokesman said: Jonathan died as a result of severe chest injuries because of his fall from a height. His family have been notified.

“Hampshire Constabulary is preparing a file on behalf of the coroner.”

Jonathan, of Shadoxhurst, Ashford, had been one of 19 sea cadets and 10 staff aboard the ship when the tragedy happened last Sunday .

The ship had sailed out to Stokes Bay near Gosport when Jonathan fell from the rigging into the water at about 8.30pm.

He was recovered by a lifeboat and taken by helicopter to Queen Alexandra Hospital in nearby Cosham where he was pronounced dead.

Jonathan had been part of a group on a week-long exercise during celebrations of the sea cadet movement’s 150th anniversary.

At the time he fell he had been bringing in sails

Sea Cadets logo
Sea Cadets logo

The Sea Cadet Corps are now working with the Marine Accident Investigation Branch to find out what caused the tragedy.

Jonathan’s family had issued a statement saying: “Jonathan was a wonderful son and grandson who tragically died whilst doing something that he loved.”

Jonathan was a Year 9 pupil at Cranbrook and head teacher Angela Daly had said that he had been a dedicated sea cadet who had been looking forward to the training exercise on board the TS Royalist.

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