Tenbury Wells parents accused of leaving 13-month-old son to drown in bath

Lisa Passey and Wayne Dale are accused of manslaughter by gross negligence by leaving their son Kian Dale unsupervised in an upstairs bath-seat for at least 13 minutes.

A jury heard how Passey was downstairs with a friend drinking coffee, while Dale was “socialising, listening to music and using his computer”.

Jonas Hankin QC, opening the prosecution’s case, said: “When, finally, Wayne Dale went upstairs to the bathroom, baby Kian had drowned.

“He was found lying over the back of the bath-seat with his head and upper body immersed.”

The jury saw photographs of the bath, surrounded by child’s toys, taken on the day of the incident at the then-couple’s home in Tenbury Wells, near Ludlow, on September 26, 2015.

Also shown in court was Kian’s bath-seat, clearly marked: “Warning: Prevent drowning – always keep baby within arms’ reach.”

Mr Hankin said that family friend Jeanette Morgan had come to the couple’s three-bed end terrace in Kyreside at about teatime.

She and Passey “drank coffee together and smoked cigarettes” in the sun on the patio, before Dale joined them, Worcester Crown Court was told.

Mr Hankin added: “She asked him to burn a copy of the UB40 album, playing in the kitchen, which he did.”

He told the jury computer analysis showed Dale allegedly using the computer from first logging on at 5.33pm, until 5.46pm when a web browser was started.

The Crown’s barrister said: “Each of those events requires human input.”

Mr Hankin added: “The time that Wayne Dale spent using the computer doesn’t include additional time he spent smoking and drinking outside while talking to Jeanette and Lisa Passey.”

After Kian was discovered lifeless in the water, Passey dialled 999 telling the operator her baby had “drowned in the bath”.

Dale, 45, told police officers he “had a beer, rolled a cigarette outside and burned a CD” and that he had only left his son for “a couple of minutes”.

Desperate attempts to resuscitate the child continued in the air ambulance and on arrival at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, but medics were unsuccessful.

A post-mortem examination found death was consistent with drowning, including what was believed to be soap bubbles in the child’s lungs.

Passey, 28, initially claimed that she had not run a bath, but twice changed her account, the prosecutor alleged.

Mr Hankin said: “Initially she said the bath was empty, then that she had filled it to a depth of 5cm and finally that she filled it to a depth of 19cm.”

He added: “There was no doubt Kian was exposed to an obvious risk of death.

“No reasonable or prudent parent would leave their 13-month-old baby alone in a few centimetres of water, even for a few moments.

“Babies can’t recognise danger.

“Unable to right themselves, they can drown in just a few centimetres of water, very quickly, and without making a sound.”

Mr Hankin said: “The defendants will also seek to blame each other for what happened.”

He went on: “The prosecution case does not distinguish between them. Each defendant bears criminal responsibility for Kian’s death.”

Passey, of Tenbury Wells, and Dale, of no fixed address, deny a joint charge of manslaughter by gross negligence. The trial continues. and their trial is set to last up to three weeks.