St. Pete Beach settles British tourists' lawsuit

The couple were arrested in 1999 after leaving their sleeping children unattended in a hotel room while they watched fireworks by the pool.

By AMY WIMMER

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 10, 2001

ST. PETE BEACH -- From deposing British witnesses to paying for overseas psychological exams, the lawsuit between St. Pete Beach and a prominent British couple was shaping up to be a pricey affair.

So both sides have tentatively agreed to settle the suit for $7,500, or about 5,200 British pounds.

The lawsuit stems from an incident in May 1999, when St. Pete Beach police arrested Philip and Jill Adam for leaving their two sleeping children unattended in a Tradewinds Resort hotel room while the couple watched fireworks from the hotel pool.

"The amount obviously is minimal, and the cost of proceeding was more than that," said Jim Yacavone, an attorney who represented St. Pete Beach in the case. "This was just a pure economic settlement."

The small sum is expected to close the final chapter of a case that once led a member of Parliament to question whether British tourists should visit Florida.

Mrs. Adam is the daughter of Sir Lawrence Byford, Her Majesty's former chief inspector of constabulary, who has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and been an instructor at the FBI academy.

Byford, who once held the highest police post in Great Britain and was vacationing with the couple and their children when the arrest occurred, ended up bailing his daughter and son-in-law out of the Pinellas County Jail.

The Adams filed the lawsuit a year ago against the St. Pete Beach Police Department and Capt. Joe Cornish, who was acting chief and who supervised the arresting officer, Sandra L. Hughey. She resigned shortly after the arrest.

Under the terms of the settlement, Yacavone said, the city does not admit wrongdoing and will not pay the Adams' legal fees. The Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, the city's insurance carrier when the lawsuit was filed, will pay the city's legal fees and the $7,500 settlement.

The Adams' suit accused the Police Department of false imprisonment, battery and failure to train and supervise the arresting officer. The couple sought damages of more than $200,000.

Yacavone said the Adams also alleged that they suffered psychological problems because of the incident, an allegation that would have led the city's insurance carrier to pay for psychological exams if the case had gone to trial.

John Trevena, the Adams' lawyer, would not comment on the settlement because it has not been formalized, even though Yacavone has already written to Cornish in the Police Department to explain the terms and why the insurance carrier planned to settle the case.

"As we stand here today, . . . there has been no final settlement," said Trevena, who added that even if it were finalized, he could not discuss its terms.

The Adams also sued Tradewinds, but they settled in December 1999 for an undisclosed amount.

On Memorial Day weekend 1999, the Adams left their son, Daniel, who was 1 at the time, and their daughter, Maisie, who was 5, sleeping in their room so that the couple could watch a fireworks display poolside at the resort.

While they were gone, the fireworks awoke their daughter, who left the room and tried to get into her grandparents' room next door. The Adams' door locked behind her, and when she could not get back in, she began crying hysterically until a stranger found her and informed hotel security.

Security called St. Pete Beach police, who arrested the Adams on child abuse charges when they returned. The couple spent the night in the Pinellas County Jail.

The state attorney's office did not prosecute the Adams.

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