THE friend of a Westcountry schoolgirl who drowned in a Dartmoor hiking exercise told an inquest yesterday that her team tearfully pleaded with teachers to abandon the trip before the tragedy struck.

Charlotte Shaw, 14, drowned while training for the British Army-organised Ten Tors expedition across the moors in Devon.

Her friend and team-mate, Yasmin Moore, told a jury at Devon Coroner's Court she felt "pushed" by teacher Chris Fuller to continue in dreadful weather conditions, despite requests to pull out. Answering questions from coroner Dr Elizabeth Earland, Miss Moore, now 18, told the inquest she and her team met with Mr Fuller and asked to "come off" the trip on the second day of training, March 4, 2007.

She said: "Most of us were in tears. He said if we carry on, if we get through that day, we will find it easy, the real thing."

She added: "We were really angry that we could not come off the trip."

Miss Moore went on: "He wouldn't let us off. We were all crying, most of us were crying. He just said keep warm and carry on."

The coroner then asked Miss Moore: "Did you feel he was pushing you?"

She replied: "Yes."

Charlotte, from Frithelstock, near Torrington, Devon, fell into a river they encountered later that day as she attempted to throw Miss Moore's bag to the opposite bank.

Earlier in the hearing, Miss Moore sat weeping as Detective Constable David Stribley, of Devon and Cornwall Police, read the statement she gave after Charlotte's death.

Miss Moore told police "she had never been so scared" when her friend fell into the "white" river.

Miss Moore said she and Charlotte, students at Edgehill College, now known as Kingsley School, in Bideford, were struggling, in terrible weather conditions, to find a place to cross a river.

Assisted by two men who were teachers leading another group, the girls and their team found a place to cross. Miss Moore's statement said: "If you tried your hardest, you could jump on to it.

"I was soaking wet and our fingers were freezing.

"Charlotte stayed behind to help because we just couldn't do it. We were in tears."

Miss Moore said one of the men advised her to take off her rucksack before leaping to the other bank.

She said: "I said 'I can't jump', so he said 'Take your bag off'. Charlotte held it for me.

"Charlotte chucked it and she fell in when she threw the bag. She just went down the river."

Miss Moore, her friends and the teacher who came to assist gave chase.

"Charlotte said nothing. She didn't scream," said Miss Moore. The children were able to contact emergency services on a mobile phone.

When paramedics arrived, they were told Charlotte was dead.

Earlier in the hearing, the coroner told the jury that Charlotte was out training for the 2007 Ten Tors Challenge.

Hundreds of young people from across the Westcountry take part in the annual hiking weekend, billed as the greatest annual adventure in Britain for young people over rough terrain, organised by the British Army.

The majority of entrants are schools, colleges, Scout groups and cadet squadrons from the South West.

The coroner said: "The weather was particularly bad – it was raining, causing the rivers and streams to swell.

"At 2pm, the group was attempting to cross the brook. They had previously tried without success."

She went on: "Charlotte attempted to throw a bag across. The bag fell into the river and she knelt to grab it.

"She toppled into the water and was carried off downstream."

Emergency services arrived and Charlotte was airlifted to Derriford Hospital.

The coroner said Charlotte's temperature plummeted to less than 30C (86F). She was admitted to intensive care at 1am on March 5 and pronounced dead at 5.08am.

The coroner said a post-mortem examination found the cause of Charlotte's death to be cardiac arrest due to drowning.

She was identified by her mother, Jennifer Shaw, who sat throughout yesterday's hearing.

Legal representatives for Mrs Shaw, the Ministry of Defence, the Health and Safety Executive, Edgehill College, and two Edgehill College teachers – including Mr Fuller – are all attending the inquest.

The hearing is expected to run until December 22.