Mother and stepfather 'left son, five, who could not swim unsupervised at lake for TWO HOURS before boys found his drowned body when they felt something under their feet'

Dunn and stepfather Smith, pictured with Charlie

A five-year-old boy who could not swim drowned in a children's pool at a water park after his parents left him unsupervised for around two hours, a court heard.

Lynsey Dunn, 28, and Paul Smith, 36, are accused of breaching their duty of care by leaving Charlie Dunn to die in the 4.5ft (1.4m) deep water on July 23 last year.

A court heard the couple were seen standing by the boot of their car as Charlie - who, the inquest heard, was "terrified" of water - played in the small pool without arm-bands.

The toddler's body was pulled out of the paddling lake by a group of three boys, aged ten and 11, who felt him underneath their feet.

Smith was seen smoking and saying "we're ready to go. I don't know where he f------ is" as the couple prepared to leave, jurors were told.

The toddler's body was pulled out of the paddling lake by a group of three boys, aged ten and 11, who felt him underneath their feet.

Smith was seen smoking and saying "we're ready to go. I don't know where he f------ is" as the couple prepared to leave, jurors were told.

Charlie was pronounced dead in hospital after being pulled out of the Blue Lagoon lake at Bosworth Water Park near Hinckley, Leicestershire.

On Thursday, the couple, of Tamworth, Staffordshire, went on trial accused of manslaughter by gross negligence at Birmingham Crown Court.

Smith, Charlie's stepfather, additionally denies a charge of attempted witness intimidation on March 27 this year.

The court heard how the pair showed an "ingrained and entrenched indifference" towards Charlie and two strangers ended up supervising him at different times

Between 12.50pm and him being pulled out of the water at 2.42pm, witnesses claimed he was constantly away from his parents "except for the odd minute".

Others claimed Charlie was running around "like a Duracell rabbit", diving in and out of the water and was encouraging fellow youngsters to jump in too.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Mary Prior QC said: "This is not a case where Charlie had run off. Charlie had been permitted to go off by himself. The prosecution say that Charlie died because he was not supervised by an adult.

"He was left alone in a busy park at five years old in circumstances where there was a clear and obvious risk that he might come to very serious harm leading to his death.

"This case is not about parents turning their back for a moment whilst a tragedy occurs. We do not prosecute parents for unavoidable tragedies, nor do we expect perfection in parenting.

"We understand that it is not always possible to avoid every injury or every harm that a child can have. This is a case of ingrained and entrenched indifference. We say both parents here had a duty of care.

"This is a park with around a thousand people in it, and obviously you are not going to have your child in full sight if you are far away. This is a gross failure to supervise, not for seconds, not for a few minutes.

"It is for protracted periods of time, in circumstances inevitably where children were exposed to danger."

Jurors were told how the young boys who discovered Charlie's body thought it was a child "messing around".

Mrs Prior QC added: "Many people tried to save Charlie that day. There were off-duty paramedics and off-duty police officers and all of them did their absolute best.

"The parents owed a duty of care, they breached that duty and as a result Charlie died. That breach caused or significantly contributed to his death.

"They cannot account for the period of two hours leading up to his death, other than the odd minute when he would return for a sandwich or a drink."

The court heard just two months before the tragedy a visitor "berated" the couple for failing to supervise Charlie properly and for allowing him to play near a deeper pool.

On other occasions, in summer 2015 and October 16 2015, Charlie was seen going "perilously" close to busy roads while his parents had lost sight of him at home, the court heard.