11-month-old Theo drowned in the bath while his parents were making phone calls

An 11-month-old boy drowned in a bath after being left unsupervised by his parents for 11 minutes as they made phone calls, an inquest heard. An ambulance was called to a house in Benchill, Wythenshawe, at 9.36am on October 27, 2020, to reports an infant was 'unresponsive'.

Theo Taylor-Maloney was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital, but his death was later confirmed. His mother Jessica Taylor had left him to make a call to her mother about obtaining a provisional driving licence, while his father Michael Maloney was on the phone to a credit union, a coroner heard.

Both admitted allowing or causing the death of a child in criminal proceedings and were handed suspended sentences, the inquest was told.

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In a statement read to Manchester Coroners' Court, Theo's mother Ms Taylor, now 29, said: "Theo was a kind and loving and caring little boy who always had a smile on his face. He was a very happy and bubbly boy who brought so much joy to everyone. He never failed to put a smile on anyone's face." He was a 'very clever little boy' who loved playing with his sisters, she added.

Theo drowned in the bath after he and his two older sisters were left unattended in the bath, coroner Zak Golombeck concluded. Giving evidence, Ms Taylor said Theo was her third child and that by the time of his death, he had two older sisters. The inquest heard Ms Taylor has since had a fourth child.

Questioned by area coroner for Manchester Zak Golombek, Ms Taylor said children's services were involved around the time of Theo's birth and that she was regularly visited by a health visitor. She said she recalled she had advice from the health visitor about 'safe bathing' and that it was stressed that mothers should never leave an infant unattended in the bath.

Ms Taylor said she usually bathed Theo in the sink and the day of the tragedy was the first time he was bathed in the bath. She said her normal routine was to bath the older siblings first and then Theo. At the time of his death, Theo could pull himself up and was trying to walk independently, the inquest heard. While the older sibling could get in the bath by herself, the other two needed assistance, said Ms Taylor.

She confirmed she helped Theo and his youngest sister into the bath on the morning of October 27, 2020. Ms Taylor confirmed she did not have a bath 'seat' for baby Theo and usually, she sat on the toilet when her children were in the bath.

Ms Taylor said her eldest, who had already had her bath, shouted at her from her bedroom and she went to see her. She agreed she had told police she thought 'Mikey' was watching the children in the bath. Ms Taylor agreed with the coroner her case was that Mr Maloney, now 27, who was in the bedroom, was 'aware' the youngest siblings were being bathed.

Ms Taylor said she then noticed Theo was under the water, although she couldn’t say how many minutes he had been under. The inquest heard an investigation into the tragedy found Ms Taylor had left Theo and his sibling 'unsupervised' for 11 to 12 minutes and that Ms Taylor had been on the phone to her mother for about 11 minutes.

Ms Taylor said she couldn't remember whether she had given Mr Maloney instructions to go into the bathroom when she took the call. She agreed Theo and his older sister should not have been left unsupervised. She agreed she had been given information about 'safe bathing' by a health visitor previously.

The court was told there were attempts to resuscitate Theo and that 'emotions were very high'. Mr Maloney told the inquest that although he had Theo with Ms Taylor, he was not the father of the other siblings. He admitted he was present when the health visitor had discussed safe sleeping and bathing.

He said he had bathed Theo in the sink previously but had no recollection of the baby being in the bath initially on October 27. He said he would not have bathed 'the girls' as they weren't his children. He said he had no recollection of leaving the siblings in the bath unattended.

He said he was 'checking' his phone on the bed in the bedroom at the time. He said he went downstairs to answer a phone call from Manchester Credit Union as it was 'loud upstairs'. He said he couldn't recall Ms Taylor also being on the phone and thought she was supervising the children.

Mr Maloney said he became aware of a problem when Ms Taylor went downstairs, prompting a 999 call and efforts to resuscitate Theo. Mr Maloney denied previously leaving Theo unattended in a paddling pool in the back garden, insisting it was a 'slip and slide' in the back garden, not a paddling pool. "So he could not slip under the water," he said.

Investigator Martin Rigby, of GMP's major incident support team, told the inquest Ms Taylor and Mr Maloney were charged with 'allowing or causing the death of a child'. The couple initially denied the offence but pleaded guilty on the eve of their trial, the inquest was told.

Ms Taylor - born January 22, 1995, according to court documents - and Mr Maloney - born October 13, 1996 - were each sentenced to a two-year suspended prison sentence, the court heard.

The officer said the investigation had concluded the most likely sequence of events was that all three children 'had been left unattended in the bath whilst the parents were distracted by two separate phone calls'. He said one of Theo's sisters raised the alarm and he was found unresponsive. He said neither parent 'was on the phone within the bathroom or within the vicinity of the bathroom'.

A post mortem examination concluded the cause of Theo's death was 'drowning'. Manchester City area coroner Zak Golombeck rejected Ms Taylor's evidence that her older daughter was out of the bath at the time and made a finding that Theo was in the bath with his two sisters when he drowned'. All three children were 'left unattended and unsupervised in the bath', the coroner concluded.

"Based on all their ages and with particular focus on Theo who was just two days short of his first birthday, this was not appropriate parenting," Mr Golombeck said, adding: "Whether it was a result of miscommunication or a lack of communication or a mixture of the two, neither parent was in attendance within the bathroom and neither parent was therefore supervising Theo and his siblings at the time when supervision was necessary."

The coroner found that both parents made phone calls when the children were in the bath. Mr Golombeck recorded a narrative conclusion, reading: "Theo died from drowning after being left unsupervised in the bath by his parents."