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Stepfather jailed over boy's water park drowning | Stepfather jailed over boy's water park drowning |
(35 minutes later) | |
The stepfather of a five-year-old boy who drowned at a water park has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years. | The stepfather of a five-year-old boy who drowned at a water park has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years. |
Paul Smith pleaded guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence over the death of Charlie Dunn. | Paul Smith pleaded guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence over the death of Charlie Dunn. |
Charlie, who could not swim, was found in a pool at Bosworth Water Park in Leicestershire on 23 July 2016. | Charlie, who could not swim, was found in a pool at Bosworth Water Park in Leicestershire on 23 July 2016. |
Smith, 36, of Tamworth, denied letting the boy wander off alone for more than two hours but changed his plea during a trial at Birmingham Crown Court. | Smith, 36, of Tamworth, denied letting the boy wander off alone for more than two hours but changed his plea during a trial at Birmingham Crown Court. |
The boy's mother, Lynsey Dunn, 28, also of Tamworth, Staffordshire, had a charge of manslaughter dropped, but was given an eight-month suspended sentence after she admitted neglecting Charlie in a separate incident in 2015, when a neighbour prevented him driving a toy car onto a main road. | |
The court was told Smith was heard swearing and blaming others after Charlie - who was placed on the child protection register in 2012 - went missing while unsupervised. | |
Charlie was said to have been left to "fend for himself" in a pool which had signs warning that children must be supervised. | |
One father who was in the pool had to explain to another parent that Charlie was not his son, the judge recounted. | |
Sentencing, Mrs Justice Jefford said she did not doubt the defendants "had genuine love and affection for Charlie", but said Smith was "completely indifferent" to the boy's "whereabouts and safety". | |
"This was not a case in which there was an isolated and momentary lapse in care and supervision," she said. | |
The judge also praised three boys, aged 10, 11 and 12, who pulled Charlie from the pool, saying it "must have been a horrific experience for them". | |
Smith was sentenced to five years and two months for manslaughter, with a consecutive two-year term handed down for threatening to petrol-bomb the home of a witness. | |
He was also given a further four months for driving while disqualified. |