Boy, 4, drowned in pond after wandering off while mother used toilet

Boy, four, drowned in a pond after wandering away when his mother went to the toilet, inquest hears

• Ifan Owen-Jones drowned in a pond in Blaenffos, Pembrokeshire in August 2022
• Coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death in the four-year-old’s case

A four-year-old boy drowned in a pond after wandering away from the family’s countryside home while his mother went to the toilet, an inquest heard.

Little Ifan Owen-Jones had been playing with his brothers in a sandpit outside the caravan where he lived with his parents in the village of Blaenffos, Pembrokeshire before he disappeared and was found face down in the pond.

His mother Sian had fallen asleep but could hear the children playing as the door was open due to the warm weather in August last year, the hearing was told.

PC James Lang-Ford said Sian ‘was awoken and could hear Ifan playing outside’. She ‘went to the toilet’ and when she returned Ifan was missing.

The family launched a search for Ifan, who was found unresponsive and lying face-down in the pond water. Despite the efforts of emergency personnel, the four-year-old was declared dead at the scene.

The coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death and expressed his deepest sympathies to Ifan’s family at the Haverfordwest inquest. 

Ifan Owen-Jones (pictured) drowned in a pond on August 7 last year after wandering away from the family’s countryside home while his mother went to the toilet, an inquest heard

Ifan was found dead in the pond on August 7 last year after he disappeared while playing, the inquest heard.

PC Lang-Ford told the hearing how Sian, after returning from the toilet, became concerned about Ifan’s whereabouts and asked the other children where he was. 

He added: ‘They searched the yard and the sheds but they could not find him.’

The mother-of-four boys drove around the land to look for Ifan and at 5pm was in tears as he could not be found.

The boy’s uncle Matthew Owen joined the search for Ifan and found his nephew lying face-down in the pond water.

Ifan was unresponsive, and the Welsh Ambulance Service was called. Despite the best efforts of family and paramedics Ifan was declared dead at 6.40pm.

The pond was located ‘some distance’ from the caravan and described as ‘not massive but bigger than one you would have in your garden’, the officer said.

The hearing was told Ifan had ‘never tried to access the area where the pond was located’.

Paul Bennett, acting senior coroner for Pembrokeshire, said the cause of death was drowning. He added that there was ‘nothing to suggest foul play or third-party involvement’.

Ifan had been awaiting tests due to a suspected autism spectrum disorder.

Mr Bennett said he considered such a condition to be a ‘significant contributory factor’ and an ‘indirect cause’ in the boy’s death.

‘This is undoubtedly one of those extremely distressing situations where a young child has died,’ he said.

‘To what extent Ifan’s autism spectrum disorder played a part is difficult for me to determine. It could be said that a young child of Ifan’s age would not deliberately put himself in that position.’

Ifan had been playing with his brothers in a sandpit outside the caravan where he lived with his parents in the village of Blaenffos, Pembrokeshire (pictured) before he disappeared and was found face down in the pond

In a statement, the family said: ‘Ifan was a beautiful, happy, healthy little boy. He had his struggles with some things due to being autistic but he was amazing at other things.

‘He loved the alphabet, counting and colours. He would watch Fireman Sam over and over. He loved climbing on anything he could find. His iPad was his safety blanket, it went everywhere with him.

‘Everyone who met Ifan fell in love with him, everyone adored him.

‘He was and always will be our special little boy. We are so lost without him. Ifan was our world. We are all truly broken.

‘We as a family are truly overwhelmed with the support, kindness and generosity we have received from our family, friends, local community and even people we don’t even know.

‘We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.’

It said his parents Sian and Wedros had their lives ‘changed forever when Ifan was in a tragic accident and lost his life.’

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