Incident Report: Callum Grant
Feb 13, 2022Homepage > Incident Reports > Swimming Pool
Callum Grant (5-years-old) and his brother, Aidan Grant (7-years-old) were guests at a friend’s birthday party at the house of Gail Sharratt and John Hoeben in Queen’s Park Avenue, Bournemouth, Dorset on Saturday 17th July 2004.
Callum was one of 12 children at the party, supervised by three adults, including Callum’s brother Aiden (7-years-old). Ms Sharratt and Mr Hoeben had just had the open-air swimming pool built in their garden, the completion coinciding with their son Oliver Hoeben’s seventh birthday (County Gazette, 2004).
12 children at the party supervised by three adults. Children were told to leave the pool to play games on the lawn. Some children returned to use the pool whilst it was not being directly supervised (County Gazette, 2004).
Christine Grant, Callum’s mother, had dropped Callum and Aiden off at the party at around 16:30. When Ms Grant returned to pick up her sons at around 17:30, she found Callum was missing (Dorset Echo, 2003):
Aiden shouted “where's Callum? just after she arrived in the back garden where the party was taking place. It quickly became apparent that Callum was not inside the house. Something inside me said to go to the pool. I walked straight to the pool and there on the bottom, lying on his side, was Callum. I must have screamed.
There was no one else in the pool area at the time. Within seconds, party hosts Gail Sharratt and her partner John Hoeben jumped in and pulled Callum out.
My understanding was that two adults would be supervising the children all the time they were in the pool. Both her sons had been wearing armbands when I left them. I knew Gail well. I thought they were safe. I don't just leave my children with anybody, my children are my life.
I believed they would be looked after. I didn't expect to return and find my son died at the bottom of a swimming pool.
It is easy to say a lot of nice things about somebody when they are gone but in Callum's case, it is true. He was an extremely popular boy who always had a smile on his face. He was happy and full of questions. He was very sporty, always running and jumping and full of energy and good humour.
Kim Jacey told the inquest she took her seven-year-old son and two other schoolfriends to the party (Dorset Echo, 2003):
When I saw the swimming pool, I decided to stay because I was in charge of three children.
I stayed by the pool most of the afternoon but moved to the lawn to help with the final game. I recall seeing Callum in his swimming trunks and armbands queuing up to take his turn.
Mr Hoeben told the inquest that Callum approached him while the game was going on (Saville, 2004):
He said he was cold. He said he wanted to go and change, so could I take his armbands off? I took them off and he went off towards the conservatory to get changed.
Christine (Grant) must have arrived about five minutes later. It wasn’t possible to see to the bottom of the pool from the grassed area.
Neighbour Ronald Perry said (Savill, 2004):
I spent Saturday afternoon out in my garden, and I could hear kids screaming and shouting and splashing about. It sounded like they were having a wonderful time.
It went quiet for a while and the next thing I knew of was an ambulance outside the house. This is an absolute tragedy.
Detective Inspector Neil Claughton of Bournemouth CID said (Dorset Echo, 2003):
We're not sure whether the boy could swim, there was some talk that he had water wings on at one stage and then didn't. We are assisting the coroner with it but it's not criminal, there is no duty of care -it's a private party.
It was just a private party with friends celebrating the completion of the pool. It looks like it was a tragic accident.
A Coroner’s inquest took place at Bournemouth Town Hall on 8th January 2004. Coroner Sheriff Payne recorded a verdict of accidental death (Dorset Echo, 2003):
My sincere condolences to Callum’s family. This was a very sad state of affairs.
References (12)
Note: I wish those affected all the best in their future. No part of this article purports to attribute blame. See our methodology page for further details of how these case summaries are constructed.
Chronicle Live. (2013). I don’t want any parents to suffer like we have. (28th February, 03:36; first published 5th May 2004, 00:00). Available at: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/dont-want-any-parents-suffer-1616176 accessed 12th February 2022.
County Gazette. (2004). Boy’s pool death an accident. (9th January). Available at: https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/7186696.boys-pool-death-an-accident/ accessed 12th February 2022.
Dorset Echo. (2003). Boy drowned in tragic pool accident. (21st July). Available at: https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/5377779.boy-drowned-in-tragic-pool-accident/ accessed 12th February 2022.
Dorset Echo. (2003). Head pays tribute to tragic five-year-old. (22nd July). Available at: https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/5377740.head-pays-tribute-to-tragic-five-year-old/ accessed 12th February 2022.
Dorset Echo. (2004). Mother’s agony at loss of her son. (8th January). Available at: https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/5371121.mothers-agony-at-loss-of-her-son/ accessed 12th February 2022.
Lakeman, G. (2003). Callum, 5, drowns in mate’s new pool. Tragedy at children’s party. (22nd July). Available at: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/CALLUM%2C+5+DROWNS+IN+MATE%27S+NEW+POOL%3B+Tragedy+at+children%27s+party.-a0105651985 accessed 12th February 2022.
Mills, J. (2003). Boy drowns after wandering off at party. (Mail Online, 22nd July). Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-189408/Boy-drowns-wandering-party.html accessed 12th February 2022.
Mirror. (2004). Pool boy’s death was accidental. (9th January). Available at: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Pool+boy%27s+death+was+accidental.-a0112003351 accessed 12th February 2022.
Savill, R. (2004). Boy’s death in pool was an accident. (The Telegraph, 9th January, 00:00). Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1451227/Boys-death-in-pool-was-an-accident.html accessed 12th February 2022.
Savill, R. (2004). I saw son lying dead in friend’s party pool. (The Telegraph, 8th January, 00:01). Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1451149/I-saw-son-lying-dead-in-friends-party-pool.html accessed 12th February 2022.
Smith, S. (2003). First swim in new pool kills boy, 5. Grief after Callum drowns at party. (22nd July). Available at: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/FIRST+SWIM+IN+NEW+POOL+KILLS+BOY%2C+5%3B+Grief+after+Callum+drowns+at...-a0105653332 accessed 12th February 2022.
Weaver, C. (2003). Girl, 2, dies in holiday pool. (Evening Standard, 27th July). Available at: https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/girl-2-dies-in-holiday-pool-6942458.html accessed 12th February 2022.
Citation: Jacklin, D. 2022. Case Summary: Callum Grant. Water Incident Research Hub, 12 February.
