'˜Police must explain why boy's canal death was deemed '˜not suspicious'

Subhaan Ali, who couldn’t swim, drowned in a canal in July after getting into difficulty while playing close to the water with a group of boys.

His mother Zaura Ali told an inquest that Subhaan was pushed into the water by a group of boys who had been bullying him in the months before his death.

But in statements read to a coroner’s court yesterday, the boys claimed Subhaan had jumped into the canal after agreeing to enter the water when one of the other boy was dared to get in.

However, the inquest at Doncaster Magistrates’ Court then heard a conflicting eyewitness account that said Subhaan got into the canal twice but was left to drown by the other boys.

After hearing evidence from eyewitnesses, Coroner Nicola Mundy called Detective Constables Simon Taylor and Victoria Kenny of South Yorkshire Police to the stand and asked why the boys hadn’t been questioned about the discrepancies.

Ms Mundy asked Det Con Taylor: “Had the children been treated as suspects, how would that have influenced questioning?”

Det Con Taylor replied: “Ordinarily if you are interviewing phase. However, with a witness, you are taking them at their word. That what they are telling you is true and accurate.”

Det Con Kenny told the court that there was nothing to suggest foul play despite the inconsistent witness accounts.

She said: “When we are investigating we still keeping an open mind. Given the information we had there was nothing to suggest there had any kind of foul play.”

But Ms Mundy said: “It seems to me there were sufficient inconsistencies. Given these inconsistencies why was it not referred to senior management?” Det Con Kenny replied: “With young children you can’t expect them to give consistent cohering accounts.”

Addressing Subhaan’s family, Ms Mundy said: “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.”

Ms Mundy told the court yesterday that she didn’t rule out putting the young boys on the stand to give evidence when the inquest concludes, at a date to be fixed.