Mother relives horror of son's Wolverhampton pool tragedy
A tearful mother has spoken of the horrifying moment her son drowned in a Wolverhampton swimming pool – after a court heard that the lifeguard accused of failing to supervise him had been warned about talking while on duty.
Kelly Woods is on trial for failing to take reasonable care for the safety of pool users including eight-year-old Suraj Mall, who drowned in February 2008.
The youngster's mother, who had taken Suraj and his three siblings to Wolverhampton Swimming and Fitness Centre, broke down in the witness stand as she recounted the events of the day.
Lajla Kaur went for a brief induction at the centre's gym and returned to see her four children in the pool's shallow end through a glass window.
She then went to get change for a locker and on returning couldn't see her eight-year-old son. "Suraj wasn't there and I kind of panicked," she said.
"When I got their (her childrens') attention they couldn't hear me through the glass. When they did finally understand they pointed towards the changing room. Then I heard the alarm and people were coming out of the pool."
The youngster had been dragged from the pool after lifeguard Woods, of Woodland Avenue, Tettenhall Wood, dived in, but despite attempts to revive him Suraj was later pronounced dead at New Cross Hospital.
The prosecution say he had been submerged face-down in the water for at least a minute-and-a-half.
On-duty lifeguard Woods, aged 31, had been chatting to customer Barry King in the time leading up to the boy's death, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday.
The trial continues.
