Jail negligent pool owners, says Coroner

Following the inquest into the death of two-year old drowning victim Sebastien Yeomans in Armidale NSW, Coroner Karen Stafford has called for the establishment of a criminal offence for pool owners or those responsible for non-compliant residential swimming pools when a person dies following negligent maintenance of the fence or failing to use the barrier properly, such as not closing the gate.

She has recommended an offence similar to Negligent Driving Occasioning Death be imposed to apply where a person dies as a result of the negligence of a third party with respect to the maintenance or use of a private swimming pool. Negligent Driving Occasioning Death currently carries a maximum sentence of 18 months for a first offence.

This is not the first time such an offence has been recommended. A similar recommendation was first made at a 2010 inquest into the death of two-year-old Jaise Taylor who drowned after getting through a non-compliant fence when the family was visiting her ex-husband’s family at their rental property at Port Stephens, and the mother said she fully supported introducing criminal charges for pool owners.

Sebastien Yeomans drowned in 2012 after going through a damaged boundary fence and falling into a backyard swimming pool. He died in hospital two days later in what the coroner described as a preventable tragedy.

Although the pool owner was charged with manslaughter, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) dropped proceedings after deciding there was no reasonable chance of a conviction. Coroner Stafford said she believed there would be no change in this conclusion unless there was a significant change in the admissible evidence, and did not refer the matter back to the DPP.

The Coroner has also recommended an increase in the maximum penalty of $5500 for breaches relating to child-resistant barriers.

Lack of inspectors a factor

In handing down her findings, the Coroner said Armidale Dumaresq Council had not allocated sufficient resources to inspect all private swimming pools, meaning that non-complying pools may go uncorrected for years.

Tellingly, Armidale Dumaresq Council had received complaints about the fencing of the pool in question in the past, yet the fence remained unrepaired, after the owners of the two adjoining properties couldn't agree on who should pay for the repairs and the removal of tree roots that were causing the damage.

In her findings, the Coroner said the council should consider allocating a sufficient number of staff to properly implement its swimming pools inspection program, and should supply swimming pool inspectors with a device to take photographs to be stored with inspection records.

She also said the Council website should make it clear to pool owners that the cost of constructing and maintaining boundary fences that also act as pool fences is the responsibility of the pool owner.

In 2013 a Goonellabah man received a criminal conviction for failing to maintain his pool fence.