'Bully', 7, may have drowned toddler

A seven-year-old boy known as a "bully" may have deliberately drowned a toddler during a playtime bath session, a coroner said today.

Karla Granville, aged two, died in only five inches of water as she shared a bath with the boy and his six-year-old sister at their house.

The drowning took place while the boy's mother was in another room, but his sister later told police he had deliberately held Karla's head under the surface, and that he had planned to do it in advance, an inquest heard.

Detectives questioned both the boy and his sister - known at the hearing respectively as Child A and Child B - but were unable to pinpoint the truth. An injunction bans the identification of A and B, although they were not related to the Karla, from Greenwich, who died on 3 April.

Today Southwark coroner Selena Lynch said that while Karla's death could have been an accident, foul play could not be ruled out.

Recording a verdict of misadventure, she said: "It is possible that Child B has given a fairly accurate account of what happened, and it is possible Child A has pushed the little girl under the water. Children often misbehave in an unsafe manner and have no idea of the consequences."

However, she said Child B's account was not "reliable" enough for a criminal court and that Child A was below the age of criminal responsibility. "A child of seven cannot by law commit an offence, even if he had done so in a malicious manner. He cannot be guilty of homicide."

The inquest heard that the boy's mother told police of her son: "He was in the bath watching her when it happened. He can be a bully."

During the hearing, the woman faced hostile questioning from Karla's father, Elrich Granville, over the differing versions of events she gave police. To start with she said she only left the children unsupervised for a minute or so to fetch a towel, but later admitted she had been in the lavatory next door for up to five minutes.

Asked why she had changed her story, she said: "It was a hell of a shock, surely you can appreciate that ... I was just very confused and I just got a bit muddled up."

Both parties left the hearing refusing to comment.