Toddler Drowns In Bath Unsupervised. Mother Pleads Guilty To Child Cruelty

A 17-month-girl, Alia Tawfeeq, died after her mother left her unsupervised in the bath in January 2017.

This incident occurred in their home in Burslem, Staffordshire, when the toddler’s mother Aarazoo Tawfeeq, aged 36, left her daughter in the bath to go downstairs.

Alia was pronounced dead at the Royal Stoke University Hospital. The post mortem reports stated that the nature of death was "consistent with drowning."

The investigation of the toddler’s death was adjourned at North Staffordshire Coroner’s Court in April 2017, awaiting a decision from the Crown Prosecution Service on whether criminal charges would be brought.

Tawfeeq was charged with manslaughter by gross negligence in 2018. She was due to go on a trial but pleaded guilty to cruelty to a child, which was accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service.

The investigation has now been formally concluded.

"The mother had not been constantly supervising the child," assistant coroner Sarah Murphy said at the inquest.

A similar incident had occurred in 2012 when nine-month-old Daisy-Ray Anderson drowned in the bath when her father left her unsupervised. She was in the bath with her 18-month-old sister when the father went to fetch towels. Both parents were charged with cruelty to a child but later cleared by a jury. The baby was taken to the North Manchester General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.