A seven-year-old boy with learning difficulties drowned in the sea after wandering off from his aunt's house, an inquest heard yesterday.
Karl Moore (7), Inbhir Ide, Malahide, was pulled from the sea at Blackrock beach in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, half a mile from the house from which he went missing.
His aunt, Catherine Moore, told the Dublin City Coroner of the panicked search for Karl, who liked to swim, until his body was discovered less than an hour after he disappeared.
Ms Moore said that on the morning of July 3rd, 2004, while she was minding her nephew, she went into the back garden for a few minutes and when she came back he was gone.
She told the inquest that Karl, who had learning difficulties and an attention deficit due to a chromosome abnormality, had a tendency to wander off.
"He had a one-direction mind. When he got out he just went in a straight line. It didn't matter where it led," his aunt said.
His mother, Caroline Moore, said she had to keep windows and doors locked at all times. She said her son loved swimming but needed armbands to keep afloat.
His aunt alerted gardaí around 9.40am. Garda Thomas Hargadon helped her search the immediate area around Cardy Rock, and they went on to search the estate, a building site and football fields.
A man walking his dog on Blackrock beach said he spotted the body floating on the water about 12ft from the deserted beach. He ran back towards a designated swimming beach and alerted a lifeguard, who pulled the boy from the water.
Garda Hargadon, from Balbriggan station, said he was alerted by the marine rescue team that the body of a child had been found on a beach near Blackrock. "We could see three men standing there. Karl Moore was lying on the sand wearing a tracksuit," he said. "There was no sign of life."
Garda Hargadon said Karl's body was found about 30 minutes after he went missing and he had possibly reached the rocky beach - half a mile from the house - by walking through the football fields.
The garda said there were signs on the rocky beach that it was not suitable for swimming due to strong currents, and the stones under the sea were uneven and could cause a person wading to slip in.
An autopsy report found that Karl had died from "dry drowning" due to a cardiac arrest after becoming immersed in the water.
Dublin City Coroner Dr Brian Farrell, who passed a verdict of accidental death, said Karl would have died almost instantly after getting into difficulties in the water.