Case Summary: Anna Hider
Aug 24, 2021CASE SUMMARY
Anna Hider was 17 months old when she was found unconscious in her foster parents’ swimming pool in Hampshire during a family get-together on Sunday, 29 July 2007. The family, including Anna, had been at a tennis tournament before returning home at around 19:30 with three friends. Anna was playing on the patio with the other children, including two older teenagers, whilst her foster father was repairing the pool pump, and foster mum was ironing and washing in the kitchen.
Anna was found by one of the older teenagers shortly before 21:00. Her unconscious body was retrieved from the pool, and attempts were made to resuscitate her by a neighbour, who worked as a nurse, as well as by paramedics who arrived soon after (Mitchell, 2009). Further attempts were made to revive the toddler after she arrived at the Queen Alexandra Hospital, but she was pronounced dead at 21:49.
Anna had been made the subject of an interim care order by Portsmouth City Council, which precedes a full care order and gives local authorities the power to share or take full parental responsibility for a child or children. Her 7-year-old sister and 13-year-old brother had also been taken into care in 2006 at the same time as Anna. The girls had been placed with separate foster families while the boy has been living in a care home by Portsmouth City Council. The Council carried out a review under the oversight of the Local Safeguarding Children's Board but concluded that her death was a result of a tragic accident.
Anna’s mother, Emma Hider, reported that she had been seeking custody of Anna at the time of her death (Evening Standard, 2007). Shortly following Anna’s death, she said:
I got a phone call last night saying that Anna was in the hospital. The next thing I knew, she was dead. They told me over the phone as I was on my way into the hospital. I am angry and I want the truth. I want to know how my beloved daughter ended up face down in someone's swimming pool. I just cannot understand how she is dead.
Anna loved animals and was always laughing and interested in the world around her. I was allowed to see Anna every weekday and spoke to her on the phone at weekends. I never missed a visit.
I want everyone to know what social services are like. Social services had not allowed me to break the news to my other two children.
Councillor Gerald Vernon Jackson said (BBC, 2007):
We offer our sincere condolences to the family of the child who tragically died yesterday. The child was the subject of an interim care order and we are offering every support possible to all those who have been affected by this. The city council will also carry out our own review of the circumstances.
Detective Inspector Alan Purvis, who led the investigation, said (BBC, 2007):
Due to the sensitive nature of this inquiry and the sensitive circumstances surrounding it we will not be releasing the address of where this occurred. It's not in the public interest to release the information. It would do more harm than good.
A full and thorough investigation into the death of Anna Hider has been completed, supervised by the Child Safeguarding Board and I am satisfied that no criminal offences have been committed, and this matter is now in the hands of the coroner.
Coroner’s Inquest (2009) Unreported, Portsmouth Crown Court, 6-10 December
Coroner David Horsley had granted anonymity to several witnesses giving evidence at the inquest because they had received death threats following Anna’s death (BBC, 2009). The inquest was attended by Anna’s mum and father.
Anna’s foster mum, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Portsmouth Crown Court:
We were all in the vicinity, it is not as if we had gone upstairs and left her, it actually happened under our noses.
The pool was guarded by a gate but around a month prior to the accident, the spring mechanism which was causing the gate to swing open was removed to ensure it remained shut. The gate was securely bolted and required adult strength to open.
The inquest heard from Anna’s foster father, who said:
I had been carrying out maintenance on the pool and had returned to the house to fill up a bucket of water, leaving the gate unlocked. It was a conscious thing. I thought 'I am only going to get some water and go back' so I did not shut it.
My wife asked me to take a sleeping bag upstairs which I did. I then went to the toilet and checked my emails for just a few minutes. When I returned downstairs, I saw my son rushing to the swimming pool. That was when I saw that Anna had been found in the water.
It was normal practice to make sure the gate was shut with a latch at all times and for the foster children to always be accompanied near the pool.
Detective Sergeant Matthew Gillooly told the Coroner that both foster parents, three of their natural children, three of their friends, Anna and another foster child had been present at the property on the day of Anna's death. The other children were in their teens and had been looking after Anna. He told the Coroner that one of the children had told him that on a previous occasion, Anna had tried to sit on the plastic cover over the pool but had been stopped from doing so (Mail Online, 2009).
Dr Paul Sadler, a consultant in critical care medicine at the Queen Alexandra Hospital, said (Mail Online, 2009):
A mobile young child is unaware of the dangers around them, so it is reasonable to comment in my view that Anna was at a typical age to have this kind of accident.
Attempts were made to resuscitate Anna for 51 minutes following the arrival of paramedics at the address. I am not aware of any defects with the defibrillator used by the ambulance crew however I in my view, such equipment was unlikely to have helped restart Anna’s heart.
Dr Barbara Borek, a forensic pathologist, said that a post-mortem examination revealed that Anna had a frothy liquid in her lungs and confirmed to the Coroner her view that the cause of her death was drowning (Mail Online, 2009)
Anna’s social worker told the Coroner that she was unaware that a spring on the gate had been later removed. She told the inquest an annual health and safety check had been completed, the last of which had been completed by her attending the property. The safety of the pool was not discussed at the last visit.
Coroner David Horsley recorded a narrative verdict on the fourth day of the hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court. Giving his verdict, Mr Horsley said (BBC, 2009):
Anna died because a spring-loaded latch securing the gate to the pool had been removed and the gate had been left open. A risk assessment had been carried out on the pool by a council official who found no health and safety issues with the way it had been built. A 1.2 metre fence had been erected around the pool and a gate with a very strong spring on it was installed.
References (23)
Note: I wish those affected all the best in their future. No part of this article purports to attribute blame. See our methodology page for further details of how these case summaries are constructed.
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The Telegraph. (2009). Toddler drowned after foster father left gate unlatched. (8th December, 14:08). Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6762080/Toddler-drowned-after-foster-father-left-gate-unlatched.html accessed 24th August 2021.
Citation: Jacklin, D. 2021. Case Summary. Anna Hider. Water Incident Research Hub, 24 August.
