Coroner stops inquest into drowning

THE coroner holding the inquest into the drowning of a young boy in the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation, stopped it after hearing the boy had been pushed into the waterway.

It was in July last year that 11 years old Subhaan Ali drowned in the Fitzwilliam Canal, (Boy's body found in canal) a short spur off the South Yorkshire Navigation near Rotherham, with it being told by other boys who witnessed the incident that he ran and jumped into the water.

Pushed in by 'bullies'

But at the inquest his mother, Zaura, told that her son was a bad swimmer and was scared of water and that he was pushed in by 'bullies', and she would never accept that he jumped in.

The boys concerned also had inconsistencies in their stories and the coroner demanded to know why police did not treat them as suspicious.

Dramatically stopped the inquest

After hearing that the mother believed that he was he was pushed in the water by the boys who were witnesses, whom she claimed had been bullying him for months, the coroner dramatically stopped the inquest.

The coroner, Ms Nicola Mundy, halting the inquest demanded to know why the boys were not treated as suspects despite inconsistencies in their stories, which were read to the court, telling the court:

"You have had concerns from the outset about the circumstance about how he came into the water and a history of bullying. My concern is that you remain concerned that there is more to this than hi-jinks that has been going on.

"I would like further clarification to why this was deemed to be not suspicious from an early stage. I will be contacting the senior officers in this case for a definitive account into the rationale behind their decisions."

Conflicting statements

In statements, the boys claimed Subhaan had jumped into the canal after agreeing to enter the water when one of the other lads was dared to get in. But the inquest heard a conflicting account with the other young witness stating in his statement that the boy was pushed by another member of the group.

The matter has been passed back to the police for further investigation.