Mum walks free after daughter's drowning

A mother whose toddler drowned in the family pool has avoided a manslaughter conviction after a judge accepted that her lack of care had already had a "terrible consequence".

Mary-Anne Illston was prosecuted after she left her 22-month-old daughter Hannah Thomsen by the pool while she became distracted inside the house. Her three older children, aged 12, 11 and five, were also by the pool.

Hannah drowned in the brief time she was left alone on the family's rural property in Marton on January 2.

Ms Illston appeared in the High Court at Wellington yesterday, flushed and tearful in the dock as she waited for Justice Forrie Miller's decision on her plea for a discharge without conviction. A large contingent of extended family was there to support her and together they celebrated his acceptance of her plea.

Outside the court, Ms Illston seemed overwhelmed at the decision and told The Dominion Post that hers was "a pretty happy family".

It was a judgment her lawyer, Peter Coles, said later was founded "on common sense and compassion".

Justice Miller told Ms Illston: "I am aware of no case in which a discharge without conviction has been granted for manslaughter in New Zealand."

However, he weighed up the consequence of a conviction and said the impact on Ms Illston's other children and her family would be substantial. It would adversely affect her career as a nurse and carer, her reputation in the community and put pressure on her children.

He referred to witness statements that expressed concern that a conviction might be treated as tantamount to a deliberate killing. "They believe that a conviction would lead to the children being stigmatised, excluded and bullied by those who might characterise you as a killer."

He told her: "Your lack of care has had a terrible consequence, as you know better than anyone. You also knew that Hannah could not swim and had fallen into the pool the previous day."

The pool was in two sections.

A shallower end for paddling was separated from the deep end by a low submerged wall and, though Hannah normally stayed in the paddling pool, Ms Illston knew she could get to the deep end and that she could not swim.

A relative of Ms Illston was one of two paramedics who performed CPR on Hannah. They were both later stood down after a fellow St John officer complained they did not perform the resuscitation for long enough. Both were later cleared of wrongdoing and reinstated.

On the wider issue of drowning, Justice Miller said there had been 85 pre-school and infant deaths in the past decade, most of which were the result of adult complacency.

"Swimming pools are a notorious hazard, and the community as a whole has an interest in seeing that children are safely managed around them ..."

Water Safety New Zealand spokesman Matt Claridge said yesterday that, although prosecuting parents in such circumstances could compound their grief, it was a good way to draw attention to the problem of child drownings.

Thirteen pre-schoolers had drowned so far this year, twice as many as the six who drowned during the whole of last year. "You can just never take your eyes off children when they are around water."

A Plunket spokeswoman said yesterday: "It is always tremendously sad to hear of the death of any child, particularly from preventable causes. This case is a stark reminder that children need to be kept within grabbing distance and constantly supervised by an adult around all forms of water at all times."

Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Kirby of Whanganui said the decision to charge Ms Illston was taken after legal advice. Police did not aim to set precedents or make examples of people.

"Each incident will have its own unique set of circumstances and any decision to prosecute will be based on a thorough investigation of those circumstances."