Inquest into Katherine backyard pool drowning of ‘Baby Croker’ focuses on water safety

‘You don’t hear the silence of the drowning’: An inquest into the death of a two-year-old Katherine girl who drowned while her mother sat just metres away aims to improve major gaps in NT water safety.

A two-year-old Katherine girl who drowned while her mother sat just metres away was playing for hours in a pool full of children, a court has heard.

A three-day inquest into the death of the girl, whose family has requested be referred to as ‘Baby Croker’, began in the Darwin coroner’s court on Tuesday, highlighting how simple oversights at a backyard barbecue led to the tragic death.

NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage said the inquest was “not about casting blame” but aimed to improve water safety in the Territory.

“Every parent has moments of inattention … we are all soul searching after this tragic event because it takes a village to raise a child,” Ms Armitage said.

“(This inquest) will examine what we, the community, can do to ensure our kids can safely enjoy fun in backyard pools.”

Baby Croker was born in Katherine in June 2019.

A happy, outgoing and healthy sister for her two siblings.

She loved travelling to Borroloola to see family, playing with dolls and animals, and watching Peppa Pig on TV – cheekily calling her parents Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig.

Baby Croker also loved football and both her parents played in Katherine.

It was at a gathering for her mother Kaylia’s footy team, the Eastside Football Club, on April 2 last year the tragedy occurred.

When Kaylia arrived at the home of teammate Billie Byers, Baby Croker joined the other children playing in the pool about 5-10m from adults, who were sitting in a covered area where lunch was being cooked on the barbecue.

The pool gate was propped open for kids to come and go and no adults were inside the pool fence.

After a break for lunch, Baby Croker jumped back in the pool, where Kaylia last saw her sitting at the edge of the shallow end.

Minutes later, one of the children screamed out the world-shattering words: “she’s drowned”.

Crystal Browne (left) performed CPR on Baby Croker during the tragic incident at Billie Byers’ (right) home.

Crystal Browne, a registered Aboriginal Health Practitioner who was at the barbecue, delivered CPR to Baby Croker and was called as a witness on the first day of the inquest.

“I could see legs flopping and arms flopping, then I pushed Kaylia out of the way and immediately started CPR,” Ms Browne said.

Police and paramedics arrived minutes later but despite desperate efforts to resuscitate her, Baby Croker was declared dead at Katherine District Hospital at 3.37pm.

Ms Browne told the court she still felt deeply affected by the incident.

“I deferred my nursing study, I still don’t bath my baby, I don’t bath him at all, just in the shower,” she said.

The host of the barbecue, Ms Byers, said the whole community was impacted.

“The football club is not really doing anything together anymore,” she said.

Expert witness Floss Roberts told the court many underestimated what ‘active supervision’ involved for water safety.

Expert witness Floss Roberts, executive director of Royal Life Saving NT, said parents often underestimated how close they needed to be to supervise children in the water.

“Active supervision by an adult means within an arm’s reach,” she said.

“There’s often no splashing or noise … you don’t hear the silence of the drowning.”

“(Children under five])are not developed enough to think, ‘Oh I can lift my head up, I can stand up here’, that’s why they drown in dog bowls and toilet bowls, that kind of thing.”