‘Should have shut it’: Baby Croker drowning inquest examines NT’s pool safety failures

The host of a backyard barbecue where a two-year-old Katherine girl drowned says she regrets not shutting the gate, as the second day of an inquest raises big questions about NT pool safety laws.

The host of a backyard barbecue where two-year-old Katherine girl ‘Baby Croker’ drowned says she regrets not shutting the gate, as the second day of an inquest into the death put the spotlight on the Territory’s pool fencing safety policy and enforcement.

Possible legal prosecution for breaching safety requirements, large on-the spot-fines and mandatory fencing on big properties were discussed in the Darwin coroner’s court proceedings on Wednesday, led by Judge Elisabeth Armitage.

Baby Croker was found lifeless in the water by another child during a footy team get-together in Katherine East in April last year, as about a dozen adults sat just metres away.

Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage is leading the three-day inquest into Baby Croker’s death. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Constable First Class Riley Stone was one of the police officers who responded to the drowning, driving the ambulance to hospital so paramedics could continue trying to save Baby Croker in the back.

Officer Stone told the inquest he remembered Baby Croker’s mother “hysterical, distressed and distraught”, and felt “concerned” seeing the pool gate propped open with a 9kg gas bottle.

It is something pool-owner Billie Byers regrets, even though Baby Croker had been playing in the pool for hours before the incident.

“I should have shut the gate, I don’t know if that would have prevented it, but I should have,” Ms Byers told the court on Tuesday.

Ms Byers said the tragic day had stayed with her.

“I left my house for a couple of nights after it happened,” she said.

Billie Byers was hosting a barbecue for her footy team when the tragic drowning occurred. Picture: Celina Whan / AFLNT Media

“I don’t really go in the pool anymore, my partner will go in with our daughter but I won’t really go near it unless my partner’s in there, I just put my feet in,” she said.

An inspection of the pool fence after Baby Croker’s death found several problems, including two faulty gates.

Counsel assisting the coroner Giles O’Brien-Hartcher told the court given the gate was propped open and there was no active supervision of the children on the day, “it is not likely that the defects in the pool fence contributed to the death”.

Data from other states revealed missing or non-compliant fences, or propped open gates, contributed to 88 per cent of young children drowning cases between 2002 and 2017.

Missing pool fences, faulty fences or propped open gates are a major contributor to child drownings.

The pool where Baby Croker drowned was granted a compliance certificate in 2006 but current Territory regulation relies entirely on owners to ensure the fencing remains up to standard.

Pool safety compliance certificates in the NT never expire unlike most other states and territories: Queensland and Western Australia require inspections every four years, Victoria every two years and the ACT is in the process of introducing policy that will likely see inspections at least every five years.

A coronial inquest in Queensland found the introduction of biannual inspections led to a noticeable drop in pool drownings in the state.

The NT’s Swimming Pool Safety Authority, Mark Meldrum, also took the witness stand on Wednesday, telling the inquest regular inspections in the Territory “would definitely help with awareness and compliance”.

Mr Meldrum would also welcome powers to hand out on the spot fines, similar to Victoria inspectors who can issue $1652 infringement notices for serious breaches like faulty gates.

Currently Territory pool inspectors must prosecute through the courts if they want to issue fines, an action Mr Meldrum said was rarely taken.

“We generally go with an educational approach and tell them to shut the gate immediately,” he said.

Swimming Pool Safety Authority Mark Meldrum said more inspections in the Territory would help keep pools safer. Photograph: Che Chorley

The inquest also raised the pool fencing exemption for properties over 1.8ha, aimed at saving large working properties from having to fence every dam or stream.

A 2016 recommendation by deputy coroner Kelvin Currie suggested the exemption be removed for pools following the drowning of a three-year-old boy in a plunge pool but resistance from vested interest groups has stymied policy change.

Mr Meldrum said “any pool without a fence is a high risk pool … in the office we call them ‘dangerous pools’”.

Expert witness Floss Roberts, head of Royal Life Saving Society NT, fronted the inquest on Tuesday and said different standards for homes on large properties “don’t make sense”.

“It’s time to say no more exemptions, a home swimming pool is a home swimming pool,” she said.

Originally published as ‘Should have shut it’: Baby Croker drowning inquest examines NT’s pool safety failures