‘Tragic death’ of toddler at Melbourne hotel pool while mother used phone prompts coroner’s call for better supervision

More than 40 Victorian children aged under four have drowned since 2010 because of inadequate supervision, coroner Sarah Gebert found. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

A two-year-old who drowned in a pool while his mother looked at her mobile phone and cared for another infant two metres away highlights the need for close supervision around water, a Victorian inquest has heard.

The boy had been playing in a toddlers’ pool adjoined to an adult pool at Crown Towers, a luxury hotel in central Melbourne, in 2021 when he slipped and fell into the deeper pool.