Boy drowned in Greek holiday pool after unlocking apartment door, inquest hears

A five-year-old child drowned in a swimming pool during a family holiday to Greece after being able to unlock the apartment doors, an inquest has heard.

Theo Treharne-Jones died after being found in an outdoor pool at Atlantica Holiday Village in Kos in June 2019.

Theo, from Merthyr Tydfil, was on holiday with his parents Richard and Nina, siblings and extended family when he died, South Wales Central Coroner’s Court heard.

Nina Treharne told the hearing the family had stayed at the same hotel the previous year, albeit in different apartments, and those had door chains inside the rooms to prevent children leaving.

But this apartment did not have chains fitted to the door, she told the hearing in Pontypridd.

Ms Treharne said Theo had been diagnosed with the neurodevelopmental disorder Smith-Magenis syndrome, which affected his sleep and left him non-verbal.

She said her son could not swim but they would as a family use the resort’s splash pad, and he would wear arm bands.

“You can’t lock it”

The inquest heard it was late at night when they arrived at the complex and collected their keys from reception and went to their apartment.

“I said to Richard there’s no chain on this door, you can’t lock it, you couldn’t lock it from the inside,” she said.

“We had the prams and our cases, so I just put them in front of the door.”

Ms Treharne said she woke up on the morning of June 15 to hear a noise coming from outside.

“I remember opening my eyes in the morning and all I could hear was banging and a woman shouting, ‘There’s a child in the pool, there’s a child in the pool’.

“Our room door was ajar, and I went down the stairs. I just remember Theo was not in the room.”

She added: “He would never, ever be allowed anywhere near a pool by himself. It was a case of waking up to an absolute nightmare.”

Inquest

Another holidaymaker saw Theo pushing his buggy on his own but then saw a woman near the pool and assumed that was his mother.

Owen Sampson said: “I didn’t want to get anywhere near him because if it was my child and I saw a strange bloke, but I didn’t want to, because he was on his own… I was like, where’s your mum and dad?

“When I got down to the bottom of the pool, I saw a lady in a yellow bikini doing her hair and I just assumed that was his mum.

“So I walked straight past and carried on.”

The inquest heard that another holidaymaker saw Theo in the shallow end of the pool and pulled him out.

Resort staff and other holidaymakers carried out CPR and Theo was taken to hospital by ambulance but later died.

The inquest continues.