Drowning puts spotlight on rules

An inquest into the death of a 3-year-old girl who drowned in a swimming pool in West Auckland last year may lead to tougher safety standards.

Vimbai Machakaire was found in a neighbour's swimming pool, after initially being reported to police as missing about 7.15pm on November 28.

She had been playing in her Ranui garden with her brothers and sisters when the alarm was raised.

Detective Sergeant Eugene Pickett of Waitakere police told the court Vimbai was found face down in a small enclosed swimming pool.

"An ambulance was called to the scene but she was unable to be revived."

Mr Pickett said the pool gate was in poor condition and was difficult to close.

"I believe Vimbai walked down the neighbour's driveway and through the front gates, which were left open. The neighbour's large dog was not there and Vimbai was able to get access to the pool.

"She was in the pool undetected for 45 minutes."

The Machakaire family arrived in New Zealand from Zimbabwe in 2004.

Both Vimbai's parents were present at the inquest. Her father, Farai Machakaire, asked his neighbour, Renate Perry, why she did not help out with the search.

"Everyone was keen to help, except our neighbours who didn't even bother opening their front gate," Mr Machakaire said.

Ms Perry said she had been out until about 7pm that day, and didn't realise anybody was missing.

"If we knew a child was missing we would have [helped]," Ms Perry said.

She said she slammed the pool gate shut at 5pm when she went out that day. Ms Perry said the swimming pool was isolated from the road by a 2.6m wooden fence.

She added the pool had a separate gate lock on the inside, and entry was gained by reaching over the top of the gate and lifting the latch.

Ms Perry said the gate was stiff and had to be lifted to open it.

Coroner Murray Jamieson questioned Ms Perry about photographs which showed the hinge and latch on the gate were poorly maintained. She replied by saying the gate had become stiff which made it harder to open.

"Do you realise it was your responsibility to maintain the gate? It was quite clear the locking mechanism was so corroded it would not close the gate," Mr Jamieson said.

Ms Perry said she had oiled the hinges but she had not done anything else to maintain the gate.

Waitakere City Council launched its own investigation into the incident.

The property was inspected by council staff after the incident to see if it complied with regulations and the owners were asked to drain the pool and make several improvements. Their report was forwarded to police and the coroner.

The council chose not to prosecute the pool's owner.

Waitakere City field services manager Max Wilde told the court more stringent regulations should be enforced on pool owners.

But he acknowledged the council had overlooked an inspection on Ms Perry's pool in 2007.

Both the police and council investigations could not answer the question of whether the failure of the pool gate was a real or substantial cause of Vimbai's drowning.

There was also no conclusive evidence that the gate was open when Vimbai was found in the pool.

The coroner adjourned the inquest and said he would issue a written finding.

- NZPA