A 14-YEAR-OLD boy died after being swept out to see while playing with pals on a fun day out, an inquest heard.
Tragedy struck when Daniel Halliday was with two friends at Crosby Beach in Sefton, , on June 30 last year.
An into the teen's death was held at Bootle Town Hall heard on Thursday.
The alarm was raised after Daniel got into difficulty while jumping in waves.
An urgent search mission was launched and RNLI crew found his body off the coast at New Brighton, Wirral, on July 8.
Senior coroner Julie Goulding ruled his death, from drowning, was an accident.
She said: “Tragically, the catastrophic accident unfolded when three young people were out having fun together and enjoying themselves.”
The inquest heard that Daniel, who was from Tuebrook in Liverpool, had been taking photos with his mates.
One of the youngsters said they were jumping waves and having a “really good time” at the beach.
In a statement read to the court, the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the waves seemed to get bigger.
He told how their other friend was struggling so he got out of the water with her, and they shouted to Daniel to get on his back.
The boy said he threw a life-ring to the teenager but the rope was not long enough to reach him.
He said: “I was screaming and shouting because I was getting nowhere.
“There was no lifeguard or coastguard during our time on the beach and no one told us not to go into the water.
“At no point did we know the water at Crosby Beach was dangerous to enter.”
Detective Inspector Paul McVeigh told the inquest CCTVshowed the three friends swimming in the sea just after 6.30pm.
He said: “Daniel can be seen disappearing off camera towards Liverpool with his head still above the water.”
Lifeboats, the helicopter, the coastguard and fire and ambulance crews were called to the scene.
The search was called off at 1am the following morning but resumed at first light.
The operation was handed over from HM Coastguard to Merseyside Police at about 10.30am when a decision was made to stop searching, the inquest was told.
David Moore, a staff officer for the coastguard, said the water temperature meant Daniel could potentially survive for 22 hours.
But, he said the rescue mission was called off before then because thorough efforts had been taken to find him.
He added: “If Daniel was on the surface of the water through that time we would have most likely seen him.”
The beach is the only one in the country which is staffed by a lifeguard every day of the year, the inquest heard.
But they are only on duty from 10am to 6pm, so there was no one there when Daniel got into difficulty.
Michael Buratti, area commander for HM Coastguard, said Crosby was a “relatively dangerous beach” because areas could be cut off by tides.
There is also sinking mud and it is close to a busy shipping channel in and out of the River Mersey which could create waves.
Michelle Williams, from Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, said the life ring thrown by the 14-year-old's friend was not put in place by the council.
She said it was likely to have been put there by a “well meaning member of the public”.
The inquest heard it would not have been effective for rescuing someone in that area.
Ms Williams also told how there were 35 signs along the 3.4km stretch of beach which advised that it was not a bathing beach and warned of the dangers.
However, Daniel's family told the inquest these notices were faded when they visited the area.
His heartbroken mother Paula Heaton said: “They were all dull and all washed out, they're not going to attract a child's eye.”
The coroner said it was a “positive step” that there were plans by the council to put more, larger signs in place.
