A five-year-old British boy drowned on a family holiday to Greece after he unlocked an apartment door.
South Wales Central Coroner’s Court heard that Theo Treharne-Jones, from Merthyr Tydfil, died after he was found in an outdoor swimming pool at Atlantica Holiday Village on the Greek island of Kos in June 2019.
He was staying at the resort with his parents, Richard and Nina, along with his siblings and extended family.
Theo’s mother, Nina Treharne, told the hearing the family had stayed at the same hotel the previous year – albeit in different apartments – and those had door chains inside the rooms to prevent children leaving.
However their apartment in 2019 did not have chains fitted to the door, she told the hearing in Pontypridd.
Ms Treharne said Theo had been diagnosed with the neurodevelopmental disorder Smith-Magenis syndrome, which affected his sleep and left him non-verbal.
The mother said her son could not swim but they would use the resort’s splash pad, and he would wear arm bands.
The inquest heard it was late at night when they arrived at the complex and collected their keys from reception and went to their apartment.
Theo Treharne-Jones (pictured), from Merthyr Tydfil, died after he was found in an outdoor swimming pool at Atlantica Holiday Village on the Greek island of Kos in June 2019
‘I said to Richard there’s no chain on this door, you can’t lock it, you couldn’t lock it from the inside,’ she said.
‘We had the prams and our cases, so I just put them in front of the door.’
Ms Treharne said she woke up on the morning of June 15 to hear a noise coming from outside.
‘I remember opening my eyes in the morning and all I could hear was banging and a woman shouting, ‘There’s a child in the pool, there’s a child in the pool”,’ she recalled.
‘Our room door was ajar, and I went down the stairs. I just remember Theo was not in the room.’
Ms Treharne added: ‘He would never, ever be allowed anywhere near a pool by himself. It was a case of waking up to an absolute nightmare.’
Another holidaymaker saw Theo pushing his buggy on his own but then saw a woman near the pool and assumed that was his mother.
Owen Sampson said: ‘I didn’t want to get anywhere near him because if it was my child and I saw a strange bloke, but I didn’t want to, because he was on his own… I was like, where’s your mum and dad? When I got down to the bottom of the pool, I saw a lady in a yellow bikini doing her hair and I just assumed that was his mum.
Theo with his father Richard. The five-year-old was on a family holiday to the Greek island when the tragedy occurred
‘So I walked straight past and carried on.’
The inquest heard that another holidaymaker saw Theo in the shallow end of the pool and pulled him out.
Resort staff and other holidaymakers carried out CPR and Theo was taken to hospital by ambulance but later died.
The inquest continues.