Man claims ex-partner was in a drug-induced “sleepy-state” before they found their son drowned

A coroner read two different accounts of what occurred before the tragic drowning of a four-year-old in a front yard pool in 2020. He says either way, his ruling was the same.

Pool safety generic image.

A Tasmanian coroner says laws should be changed to make it an offence to buy backyard pools without appropriate fencing, following the drowning death of a four-year-old boy.

Coroner Robert Webster called for the change in his report into the death of Tallen John Pitt at Bridgewater on November 7, 2020.

The boy’s mother Shayleen Pitt bought the 16,000 litre 15 foot Bestway Steel Pro Max pool from Myer about a month before Tallen’s death.

The report found the pool was set up in the front yard without appropriate fencing, which Ms Pitt said she intended to purchase after her “next payday” which was two days following Tallen’s death.

Coroner Webster recommended reforming laws to make it an offence for homeowners to have pools without appropriate fencing, mirroring legislation in NSW.

He recommended that Brighton Council, and all councils conduct compliance checks to ensure all pools in their municipalities adhere to pool fencing regulations.

He also recommended the state government and each council run an education program prior to the start of summer each year which highlights key water safety messaging and pool fencing requirements.

Bestway Steel Pro Max pool

Mr Webster did not seek to open an inquest over the death of Tallen, despite the “factual dispute” in the affidavits of Ms Pitt and her then partner Zachary Brown because the dispute did not change the fact that the four-year-old was not properly supervised.

Mr Brown claims to have returned home to find Ms Pitt in a drug-induced “sleepy state” – saying she had smoked “two to three cones of cannabis” before he had left the house. He said on his return they found the child drowned in their pool, according to a coroner’s report.

Mr Brown alleged Ms Pitt had told him to “stick to the story that she was on the toilet” when he came home to find his stepson missing.

Coroner Webster said Tallen’s death occurred due to a lack of parental supervision and a lack of appropriate fences around the pool.

“Whether the lack of supervision was due to Ms Pitt being asleep or in the bathroom does not change the fact that Tallen was not appropriately supervised,” Mr Webster said.

“The risk to Tallen was heightened by the fact the front door was unlocked which, given the absence of pool fencing, meant that once he was not supervised he had unimpeded access to the pool,” the coroner’s report said.

In her affidavits Ms Pitt said she was in the toilet for five minutes, calling out her son’s name in order to keep track of him before he stopped responding.

She said she left the bathroom as Mr Brown returned to the house and together they began looking for missing Tallen before she found him face down and cold to the touch in the pool.

Ms Pitt performed CPR while Mr Brown called triple-0.

Paramedics arrived and commenced treatment. Police arrived about 5pm and Tallen was pronounced dead at 5.10pm.

Originally published as Man claims ex-partner was in a drug-induced “sleepy-state” before they found their son drowned