Tuesday 22 January, 2008
By Marty Sharpe
The Dominion Post

A grandmother mourning the drowning of her 11-month-old granddaughter has been charged over the improperly fenced swimming pool where she died.

Bryleigh-Rose Yvonne Northover drowned in the pool at a rental house in Akina, Hastings, at Easter last year.

Her grandmother, Charmaine Pullen, 41, who was renting the house, has been charged under the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act, along with the landlords, Andrew Reed and Jo-Anne Hawkins.

Police allege Reed and Hawkins made alterations to the fence after it had been inspected by a council officer.
Pullen has been charged with having the swimming pool full of water in an area that was not properly fenced.
All have pleaded not guilty and the matter will go to a defended hearing in April.

Pullen, who lived with her daughter and granddaughter, was not at home when the drowning happened on Easter Sunday.
Bryleigh-Rose had just learned to walk and had wandered from her mother's sight.

She is believed to have gone out a side door of the house and through an open door to the fenced pool area.
She was found in the pool about 30 minutes later. An ambulance was called but attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful.
Pullen told The Dominion Post she was very upset that police had charged her.

"I can't understand it. According to the bylaw the responsibility falls on the tenant as well as the owner. But I don't want to be convicted for something I don't feel I was responsible for. The council is supposed to inspect pools every three years.

"That pool would have been in there for about 20 years. If there was something wrong, why had it not been fixed? I was certainly led to believe everything was okay. "We'd actually discussed how much fun we'd have in the pool."

Pullen said council rules for pools should be overhauled so they were checked when tenants changed or houses were sold.

"If that prevents one death and the sort of grief I've been through, then it would be worth doing," she said. "We can't really move on with our grief process until all this is done. Christmas was very hard."

"It's one of those things, you know, you hear stories of kids drowning and you think how awful."

"But when you're the victim it changes everything. Every drowning we've heard of since then makes us really feel for the families."
Reed would not comment. The house has since sold.

According to the International Life Saving Federation's World Drowning Report, New Zealand ranks third-highest in the world for drowning deaths. Of the 110 drownings last year, four happened in home pools - the highest number since 2001, when there were nine.

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