http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6867436.ece
A married father of three described yesterday how his daughter had fallen into the sea and drowned after he let go of her pushchair to kiss his mistress.
Andrew Hopper was pushing two of his children along the seafront near Folkestone, Kent, with his lover, Paula Anderson, on February 15 this year when he released the double buggy from his grip.
Mr Hopper told an inquest into the death of his daughter Rebecca, 2: “We stopped I said, ‘Come here’, or something like that and we kissed.
“Momentarily I let go of the buggy and seconds into that kiss we heard a plop. It was like someone throwing a stone into the water.
“We broke from that kiss and thought, ‘What was that?’ We both looked and saw the buggy had gone.”
The inquest at Ashford Coroner’s Court was told how the couple dived into the water to rescue Rebecca and her eight-month-old brother, Lewis.
Rebecca was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital, East London, but died that day. Lewis made a full recovery. Police investigated Rebecca’s death as a possible case of neglect, but the Crown Prosecution Service did not prosecute Mr Hopper, 38, a software engineer at BAe Systems.
Mrs Anderson, also 38, told the court how she and Mr Hopper had walked to one end of the promenade with the buggy and had turned to come back.
“We stopped, we turned to each other, we kissed,” she said. “It was a second, then I heard a noise, a splash, that was it, nothing loud, then I realised the buggy wasn’t there.”
Mr Hopper was the first to jump into the water and she followed immediately after, she said. “The event is very strange in my head. Andrew went for Lewis and I grabbed Rebecca. We struggled in the water — it was very cold and very deep.”
Two passers-by helped to drag all four from the sea and gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. When asked if she thought the wind had blown the pushchair into the sea, or whether it had rolled in, Mrs Anderson said: “It’s hard to say, probably the wind. I don’t really know.”
Irene Scheimberg, a consultant paediatric pathologist, said that Rebecca had drowned and had suffered several cardiac arrests while resuscitation attempts were made.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Rachel Redman, the coroner, said that a gust of wind had blown the buggy into the sea. She called Rebecca’s death a tragic accident.
The children’s mother, Sarah Hopper, 35, a beautician from Chatham in Kent, who also has another son, had not known about her husband’s affair until that day.
Outside the hearing, a statement was read on her behalf. “I am relieved the coroner has now come to a decision,” it said. “Rebecca was my beautiful baby girl and her brothers and I miss her every second of every day.
“While today’s decision will help us take the next step in our recovery, the accident which took my little girl’s life could so easily have been avoided.”
At the time of the accident Mr and Mrs Hopper lived together in Chatham. They have separated. Mr Hopper and Mrs Anderson are thought to have stayed together, after Mrs Anderson left her husband
A married father of three described yesterday how his daughter had fallen into the sea and drowned after he let go of her pushchair to kiss his mistress.
Andrew Hopper was pushing two of his children along the seafront near Folkestone, Kent, with his lover, Paula Anderson, on February 15 this year when he released the double buggy from his grip.
Mr Hopper told an inquest into the death of his daughter Rebecca, 2: “We stopped I said, ‘Come here’, or something like that and we kissed.
“Momentarily I let go of the buggy and seconds into that kiss we heard a plop. It was like someone throwing a stone into the water.
“We broke from that kiss and thought, ‘What was that?’ We both looked and saw the buggy had gone.”
The inquest at Ashford Coroner’s Court was told how the couple dived into the water to rescue Rebecca and her eight-month-old brother, Lewis.
Rebecca was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital, East London, but died that day. Lewis made a full recovery. Police investigated Rebecca’s death as a possible case of neglect, but the Crown Prosecution Service did not prosecute Mr Hopper, 38, a software engineer at BAe Systems.
Mrs Anderson, also 38, told the court how she and Mr Hopper had walked to one end of the promenade with the buggy and had turned to come back.
“We stopped, we turned to each other, we kissed,” she said. “It was a second, then I heard a noise, a splash, that was it, nothing loud, then I realised the buggy wasn’t there.”
Mr Hopper was the first to jump into the water and she followed immediately after, she said. “The event is very strange in my head. Andrew went for Lewis and I grabbed Rebecca. We struggled in the water — it was very cold and very deep.”
Two passers-by helped to drag all four from the sea and gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. When asked if she thought the wind had blown the pushchair into the sea, or whether it had rolled in, Mrs Anderson said: “It’s hard to say, probably the wind. I don’t really know.”
Irene Scheimberg, a consultant paediatric pathologist, said that Rebecca had drowned and had suffered several cardiac arrests while resuscitation attempts were made.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Rachel Redman, the coroner, said that a gust of wind had blown the buggy into the sea. She called Rebecca’s death a tragic accident.
The children’s mother, Sarah Hopper, 35, a beautician from Chatham in Kent, who also has another son, had not known about her husband’s affair until that day.
Outside the hearing, a statement was read on her behalf. “I am relieved the coroner has now come to a decision,” it said. “Rebecca was my beautiful baby girl and her brothers and I miss her every second of every day.
“While today’s decision will help us take the next step in our recovery, the accident which took my little girl’s life could so easily have been avoided.”
At the time of the accident Mr and Mrs Hopper lived together in Chatham. They have separated. Mr Hopper and Mrs Anderson are thought to have stayed together, after Mrs Anderson left her husband
