Girl, 2, 'dry-drowned' in 'tragic' accident in Suffolk pond

A toddler died in a "tragic" accident after she fell into a pond at her grandparents' house, an inquest heard.

Violet Knox, aged two, the youngest of four siblings, had been playing in the garden when she went missing.

She was found by her grandmother about half an hour later in the pond at Beck Row, Suffolk, on 23 February.

Concluding that her death was a "tragic accident", coroner Nigel Parsley said her heart would have stopped after a sudden immersion into cold water.

This is also known as dry-drowning and would have happened with "that first breath in of very cold water", Mr Parsley added.

Fence access

The inquest at Ipswich heard that Violet and a sibling had been in the garden on the sunny Sunday afternoon while her grandfather chopped wood nearby.

The inquest was told a fence separated the pond from the rest of the garden but there was an access, although the children were under strict instruction not to go near it.

Violet, said to be afraid of water, had never approached the pond which was 50cm (20 in) deep.

Violet's grandmother, Angela Peck, found her in the water.

"I saw Violet's dress floating in the pond," she said.

Despite efforts by paramedics to resuscitate the child she was later declared dead at West Suffolk Hospital.

Violet's mother, Katie Knox, described her daughter as "a beautiful loving girl" who loved dancing and "who had a smile and a wave for everybody".