'Every parent's worst nightmare': Court hears of agony after son's drowning

Skye Meinen's victim impact statement was heard in Warrnambool County Court on May 22, 2024, as the Port Fairy Community Pool management pleaded guilty to failing to ensure persons were not exposed to risk.

Ms Meinen's son Cooper Onyett, 8, drowned during a Merrivale Primary School camp at the Belfast Aquatic Centre on May 21, 2021.

She said she had been excited to pick her son up at the end of the day, counting down the hours to hear about his first camp.

Instead, she held his "wet, lifeless body" on the pool-side floor with so many questions, many of which remained unanswered to this day.

Ms Meinen said her son had dazzling blue eyes, a heart of pure gold and an infectious, cheeky smile that could light up the darkest of rooms.

She said she never thought lightning would strike twice in her lifetime, having lost Cooper's twin brother Ethan before birth.

Ms Meinen said it was a gross understatement to say her heart was broken after the call she received about the "absolute atrocity" that had occurred.

She said no parent should have to second guess the safety of their child on school camp.

"Our babies must come home the way we sent them," she said.

The court heard the family's trauma was intensified when their COVID-19 funeral exemption was denied, meaning only 10 people could attend to say their final goodbyes.

Ms Meinen's anguish was among a number of statements heard in court.

Family members recalled Cooper's wicked sense of humour and adventurous spirit, and spoke of the agony of birthdays and holidays without him.

A parent of another Merrivale student, who also struggled in the water during the camp, said his once confident son was ready to conquer the world but was now "so scared of life".

Prosecutor Duncan Chisolm said 28 students attended the pool in Port Fairy's Campbell Street on May 21, 2021.

He said in a form submitted to the school two days earlier, Cooper's mother stated her son was a "beginner swimmer" with "little or no experience, including in shallow water".

The students arrived at the pool about 10am, supported by two teachers and a teacher's aide.

Mr Chisholm said 20 students said they could swim and 10 to 12 said they'd done swimming lessons, however Belfast Aquatics did not actually test their abilities.

He said the school had booked the use of a nine-metre-long, 1.6-metre-wide inflatable obstacle course, similar to a bouncy castle.

He said Merrivale teacher Troy Tampion pointed out to students which end of the pool was deep while lifeguard and Belfast pool manager Shaun Murrihy directed the children into two groups.

Those that could swim were allowed to use the inflatable, while those who couldn't were to remain at the shallow end of the pool.

Mr Chisholm said as the students lined up at the inflatable, the adult supervisors moved into positions where they believed they could see the children.

The students were allowed on the inflatable one by one.

The court heard Mr Murrihy noticed almost immediately the children were struggling once they hit the water so jumped in to offer assistance.

One of the children he assisted was Cooper.

Mr Murrihy then yelled out to lifeguard Aaron McInnes to stop any more children getting onto the inflatable and instructed him to put a floating rope divider in the shallow pool.

Over the next 10 minutes Mr Murrihy, who had remained in the pool, saw Cooper jump from the pool's divider rope into the water at the shallow end, and then standing on a dividing wall, which he was directed to get off.

After about half an hour, Mr Murrihy determined only six children were competent enough swimmers to get back to the edge of the pool without assistance, and directed the rest of the students to the shallow end.

The court heard a woman and her daughter were swimming when she spotted what she believed was a boy floating underwater at 10.42am.

Cooper was pulled from the water but was unable to be revived.

Mr Chisholm said no standard operating procedures were in place for the inflatable device.

He said the safety breach was serious and a "clear departure from acceptable safety standards".

Barrister Stephen Russell, representing Belfast Aquatics, said it took some time for the Port Fairy pool to come to fruition and it had been a "difficult arrangement" with Moyne Shire Council which provided between $100,000 and $200,000 in funding annually.

He said that was due to a shortfall in the amount of funding it received from donations, fundraising and fees.

He said the council had stepped in to pay the increased insurance costs following the incident.

Mr Russell said the committee had no ability to make a financial contribution by way of a fine or court-ordered donation to a charity.

The maximum penalty for the offence is a fine exceeding $1.4 million.

The barrister said the pool committee was a registered charity made up of "locally-minded volunteers".

He said there were a number of procedures in place when using an inflatable, including having an additional life guard to enable extra supervision, which occurred on the day.

But he said that upon the school's attendance, Mr Murrihy learned the teachers had not planned to actually get in the pool.

That led the pool manager to get changed and hop in the water himself, meaning both life guards were involved in the inflatable, rather than the entire pool which was usual practice.

Mr Russell said his client accepted their shortcomings and the impact it had on Cooper's family, friends, and the wider community.

He said since the incident there had been a significant number of changes to their procedures, some of which occurred after improvement notices from WorkSafe.

He said the inflatable had not been used since the incident and would likely never be used again.

Christopher Martin, from Belfast Aquatics, told the court the incident was "devastating for the whole community" and had significantly impacted the committee, including members who were there at the time of the incident and had volunteered to assist.

He said the committee had since worked closely with WorkSafe and Life Saving Victoria to ensure "nothing like this happens again".

Victoria's Education Department was also charged with breaching safety laws and will face a plea hearing on May 23.

Judge Claire Quin questioned why the hearings weren't held at the same time in order to limit the trauma experienced by the victim's family.

Prosecutor Mr Chisholm said the department claimed the victim impact statements were "inadmissible with respect to their (case)", which he said was a "matter of dispute".

The judge will hand down her sentences at a later date.