Inquest into death of two-year-old who drowned in Kintore concludes in Alice Springs
A missing witness, vows of no more pool excursions, and a mother’s push for council workers to be held accountable. Read the full day-by-day coverage of an inquest into how a toddler drowned in a remote community. Warning: Distressing.
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August 2: Vows of “never again” for pool excursions and a push for Act amendments so council workers can be held accountable by law were all part of the final day in an inquest into how a toddler tragically drowned in a remote Red Centre community.
The week-long inquest into the child’s 2020 drowning death in Kintore concluded in the Alice Springs Local Court on August 2, with the parties now expected to make written submissions.
Presided over by Coroner Elizabeth Armitage, closing submissions were made from counsel assisting Paul Morgan, who called the drowning “a horrible, sad, tragedy”.
“The failure to have a clear set of policies and procedures – including a risk management plan for that was understood by the people at the childcare centre – was a significant failing that contributed to the death (of the child),” he said.
“That doesn’t mean that the childcare workers didn’t care, they clearly loved and cared for children.”
He noted how the inquest heard from many key witnesses such as childcare workers on the day, representatives from the MacDonnell Regional Council, medical professionals, and a pool safety expert.
However, Mr Morgan did note that one key witness was missing – the Kintore pool lifeguard who was on duty on the day.
“The lifeguard in charge of the pool, Paul Rigney, did not come to this inquest,” Mr Morgan said.
“He has since run away overseas; the police can’t find him.”
Mr Rigney has not been accused of any wrongdoing by the police or the inquest.
Mr Morgan made five recommendations to Coroner Elizabeth Armitage, which centred around the MacDonnell Regional Council ensuring they proper policies and procedures were put in place, as well as consulting with the correct bodies if the pool was to be re-opened.
Since the incident on December 2, 2020, the pool in Kintore – and the childcare centre – have been shut.
His first recommendation called on expert mediators to come to Kintore and help the community to heal from the incident.
Before Mr Morgan delivered his closing address, the inquest heard from current MacDonnell Regional Council chief executive Belinda Urquhart, who said “on my watch there will never be an excursion to a swimming pool again”.
Ms Urquhart made the statement under questioning from lawyer John Birrell, who was representing the mother of the boy who drowned, Justina Neale.
In his closing address, Mr Birrell made a number of submissions on behalf of Ms Neale, most notably pushing for law reform so that council workers can be held criminally responsible.
“On the second of December, 2020, and today, the law in the Northern Territory says that council staff cannot be prosecuted for crimes they commit when they’re at work,” Mr Birrell said.
“As best we can tell, the broad statutory protections from criminal liability for local government employees in the Northern Territory is unique.
“The same laws, in other Australian states, do not give this protection.
“Given the Northern Territory appears to be the outlier in this issue, Ms Neale’s submission is that it would be appropriate for your honor to consider reform in section 182 of the current Local Government Act.”
In her final address, Ms Armitage revisited many of the statements made by various family members throughout the inquest.
She mentioned how the father of the boy, Simon Jurrah, had lost his only son, and how the grandmother Magdalene Marshall said her family was “all sad all the time”.
Ms Armitage will release her report from the inquest at a later date. No charges have been laid over over the child’s death.
Toddler ‘should have come home’: Inquest hears from drowning victim’s uncle
August 1: A desperate climb over a barbed wire fence and an interrupted smoko – this was the experience of one family member who says his nephew “should have come home that day” as an inquest into how a toddler drowned in a remote community continues.
Day four of a coronial inquest into the tragic death of a two-year-old boy who drowned in Kintore in 2020 continued in the Alice Springs Local Court, with the aunty and uncle of the boy sharing their story.
A statement from Gary Marshall – also speaking for his wife Marina Jurrah – was read out by counsel assisting Paul Morgan, with an interpreter also translating, before she stopped halfway through due to nature of what was being said.
The statement left the mother of the boy in tears, who was out of Kintore at the time, leaving her son in the care of aunty Maria.
On December 2, 2020, Ms Jurrah took the boy to childcare – not realising it would be the last time anyone would see the boy alive.
Mr Morgan told the inquest, through telling the statement on behalf of Mr Marshall and Ms Jurrah, how “even when (our nephew) was very little he would always smile”.
“That would make me and Marina very happy,” Mr Morgan said when he read out the statement for Mr Marshall and Ms Jurrah.
“We were so lucky to have those memories.”
Mr Morgan solemnly recounted the events of December 2, 2020, for the duo, which by all accounts had been a day like any other.
“On that sad day, Marina gave (our nephew) his breakfast and a shower before she took him to the childcare centre,” Mr Morgan read out for them.
“Marina was waiting to pick up (our nephew) when he finished the pool excursion.
“I was having my work smoko when I saw people running towards the pool and people were screaming.
“I ran to the pool straight away. When I got to the pool the gate was closed.
“I had to jump over the gate to get into the pool, over the barbed wire.
“When I got over into the pool ... I knew what happened.”
Recounting the tragedy, both Mr Marshall and Ms Jurrah were adamant their nephew “should have come home that day”, Mr Morgan said reading out the statement on their behalf.
“I don’t want this to happen ever again to other people in the future,” Mr Morgan said on their behalf.
“I never want anyone else to feel the pain like Marina and I feel everyday.”
Earlier in the inquest, RJ Houston from the Royal Life Saving Society of Australia finished giving his evidence.
Since the tragedy, the Kintore pool has been shut, with one of the purposes of the inquest to see if there was any possibility the pool could re-open.
When questioned about this by the Department of Education lawyer Matthew Brady, Mr Houston noted there could be difficulties the pool could face.
“That three-year closure means that those children in that community are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to training retention for example, because there is now a generation of children who haven’t had a water-social education,” he said.
Mr Houston also noted how many aspects of the pool may have to be repaired – such as the pool filter – due to sitting unused.
“When pools sit empty for a period of time, the ground pushes back, so they tend to buckle and crack and there can be significant leaks,” he said.
The inquest will continue tomorrow.
‘This is wrong’: Inquest hears of grandma’s grief over drowning death of toddler
July 31: A grandmother whose grandson drowned has told an inquest into his death how the feelings “never go away” no matter how much she would drink.
Magdalene Marshall spoke of losing her grandson in December 2020, when he drowned in Kintore, to the inquest via statement, which was read out by her daughter, Roxanne Neale.
At the end, both of them were in tears, with the grandmother expressing she was angry her grandson died “because it seemed he wasn’t being looked after properly”.
“The people who were supposed to be looking after him that day are not in prison,” Ms Neale said on behalf of Ms Marshall.
“This is wrong.
“I have been very confused about what happened on the day (my grandson) passed away.
“The hardest thing for us is not understanding the full story about what happened to (my grandson) and why it happened.”
She said her grandson would have been seven years old now, and that some of his cousins who remembered him still asked where he was.
“It has been a long time since (my grandson) passed away and we still don’t have answers,” Ms Neale said on behalf of Ms Marshall
“For a long time, no one has talked to me or my family about the true story.
“We still don’t know what really happened, no one has given us the answer.
“I believe a lot of the story is still hidden from us, and what we know doesn’t make any sense.”
The answers may slowly be emerging through the inquest, however some will remain hidden to the public due to laws about commonwealth records and information.
Five public interest certificates were filed with the inquest permitting disclosure of information for the proceedings, but publication of those documents remains prohibited.
Also to give evidence on the day were MacDonnell Regional Council coordinator of aquatic facilities Zoe Lang, former MacDonnell Regional Council operations manager Margaret Harrison, and RJ Houston from the Royal Life Saving Society of Australia.
Questioning Ms Lang, MacDonnell Regional Council lawyer Andrew Harris asked if she knew the Kintore pool lifeguard was a “swimming coach in Brunei”.
Ms Lang attempted to answer, before Coroner Elizabeth Armitage interjected and said Ms Lang “was not qualified to comment on his certification”.
Mr Houston spoke on safety measures around the pool and said the onus was on the owner of the pool to ensure adequate signage was placed around which detailed child supervision measures.
“Embedding a culture of safety not just in the employees but also in the community so that they’re aware that this is a practice that’s taken very seriously,” he said.
The inquest continues on Thursday.
Tears flow as two-year-old’s drowning death inquest continues
July 30: Childcare workers have shared their side of the story at the inquest into the death of two-year-old who drowned in a remote community – leaving many of them in tears – with the team leader detailing how they struggled to open the gates to the pool once they discovered the boy was missing.
The inquest continued on Tuesday, with former Kintore childcare educator Noretta Nolan and Rebecca Pollard giving evidence in the Alice Springs Local Court, while former Kintore childcare team-leader and MacDonnell Regional Council employee Paula Nadas appeared via video-link.
In between tears, Ms Nadas told her version of events to Coroner Elizabeth Armitage about what happened on December 2, 2020, when a two-year-old drowned in the Kintore Pool as part of a childcare excursion.
Ms Nadas was the team leader on the day, and explained the frantic moments when the two-year-old was discovered missing.
“They couldn’t open the gates … a couple of Aboriginal men climbed that fence and they found him and I could hear them yell that ‘he’s here’ and as soon as I heard that I ran to the medical centre,” she said.
“I didn’t see them pull him out, I was just running to get help.”
Before the boy went missing, Ms Nadas was explaining how she was holding up a towel so some children could change in privacy during which she turned her back for “two-to-three minutes”.
“I don’t know exactly what the movements were behind me, I’m guessing he left somehow.
“There’s nothing to be angry about – it’s just horrible.”
Earlier in the day, before lunch, when Ms Pollard was being questioned, the father of the boy – Simon Jurrah – broke out in tears and left the hearing.
He returned with tears in his eyes, and stayed for the entirety of the second day.
During questioning by Counsel Assisting Paul Morgan, Ms Pollard said she wasn’t told how to look after children when they’re taken to the pool for a swim.
Under questioning from the lawyer for the mother of the boy – John Birrell representing Justina Neale – Ms Pollard also said the children hadn’t been counted when they left the pool.
When asked the same question by Mr Morgan, Ms Nadas said “I didn’t do it, I knew we were all safe in the change space … I didn’t do it again”.
Ms Nolan was asked if anyone was holding the two-year-old’s hand while he was in the pool, to which she replied no.
After interpreting for both Ms Nolan and Ms Pollard, the interpreter too broke out in tears, and said the two-year-old who drowned was her nephew.
Ms Armitage called the community kind and applauded their bravery for attending the inquest on such a tough subject.
“How kind and gracious and brave the whole community have been to come to this inquest; to listen to this hard story,” she said.
The inquest continues tomorrow.
Inquest into two-year-old’s drowning death begins
July 29: A court has heard from a doctor who attempted to resuscitate a boy who drowned in tragic circumstances in a Red Centre remote community, as the coronial inquest into his death gets under way.
Presided over by Coroner Elizabeth Armitage, the coronial inquest into the drowning of a two-year-old boy in Kintore at the community pool began on Monday, July 29 in the Alice Springs Local Court.
Out of respect for the family, this masthead has chosen not to use the boy’s name, who drowned in the Kintore community pool on December 2, 2020.
The first day of the inquest heard from the general practitioner who administered CPR to the boy, a youth worker who also gave CPR to the boy, among other witnesses.
The inquest was video-linked into Kintore, but family also travelled into Alice Springs to hear the events of what Ms Armitage called an “extremely traumatic and distressing day”.
The last person to give evidence on the first day was GP Dr Sarah Edmundson, who was one of many doctors working a “fly-in-fly-out” rotation in Kintore.
Ms Edmundson detailed how she attempted to give CPR and use a defibrillator in an attempt to resuscitate the little boy while working on the day of his death.
She said she arrived at the pool at 10.55am to find someone already giving CPR and also using a defibrillator on the child, before she decided “we needed to get the child to the clinic as soon as possible”.
“As soon as we got to the clinic, we got him onto the bed in our resource room,” she said.
“We put an oropharyngeal airway in, which just helps keep the airway open, and then we applied and we started giving rescue breaths.
“We gave ongoing CPR with 15 to two so 15 compressions to two breaths.
“While we did this we got an LMA ready, which is a laryngeal mask airway, size two, and when that was available, we inserted that.”
However, Dr Edmundson said despite her best efforts there were “absolutely no signs of life”.
“There is a brief episode of the electrical activity on the monitor and it was fairly late into resuscitation process but it was nonsustained and we continued … to see whether anything else would come about but they didn’t,” she said.
Dr Edmundson said she left the team to keep trying to resuscitate the boy as she went and explained to the family that they’d “done everything we could”.
“There was nothing more we could do and they understood,” she said.
Before Dr Edmundson tendered his statement, the court heard from Kintore youth worker Katherine Richards, who detailed how she “used her fingers to scoop” liquid out of the boy’s mouth when performing CPR.
“I was doing two breaths and then twenty compressions; I did that for a couple of minutes,” she said
Ms Richards said she wasn’t sure how long it took for nurses to arrive, saying it felt like an eternity when it could have also only taken a “couple of minutes”.
Ms Richards said she worked in Kintore for about five years, calling it a “beautiful place to live, on beautiful country”.
Under questioning from Ms Armitage, Ms Richards said the pool was “extremely important” to the youth of Kintore, who were given “pool passes” at school if they had a good attendance.
However, on questioning if she thought reopening the pool was a good idea, she said the decision was up to the community.
Earlier in the day, family members gave their victim impact statements.
The inquest will continue on Tuesday, running until Friday, August 2.
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Originally published as Inquest into death of two-year-old who drowned in Kintore concludes in Alice Springs
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