Mum didn't want toddler to become 'monster'

The mother of a toddler who drowned in an inflatable pool told social workers she did not want her disabled daughter to "become a monster".

An inquest into the death of two-year-old Maia Coral Comas, who drowned in her family's yard at Curl Curl on Sydney's northern beaches in December 2007, has heard that her mother Samantha Razniak told a social worker she would rather her daughter "die now than die slowly", the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

''I don't want to see my daughter become a monster,'' she said.

NSW Deputy Coroner Scott Mitchell yesterday delivered an opened finding into Maia's death.

"That the pool was left unfenced, containing water and available to a toddler suggests great irresponsibility on the part of the parents," Mr Mitchell said in his findings handed down at Glebe Coroner's Court.

His remarks came after a five-day inquest held earlier this month which heard Maia's parents, Pablo Comas and Ms Razniak, had previously inquired about "options", including euthanasia and adoption, before her death.

The child had been diagnosed as being in the early stages of neurodevelopmental disorder Rett Syndrome, which is linked to significant mental and physical disabilities.

While Mr Mitchell said the cause of death was drowning, he was unable to determine if it was accidental or not.

"I find, on the balance of probabilities, that Maia Coral Comas died shortly after 8am on 3 December 2007 when she drowned at her home ... but whether or not her death was accidental, I am unable to say," he concluded in his findings.

Phillip Ryan, lawyer for Mr Comas and Ms Razniak who were present on Wednesday, said outside the court that Maia's death was a tragedy for the family and urged the public not to judge his clients.

"The death of Maia was a terrible tragedy," he told journalists.

"Before anyone throws stones towards the parents, we simply ask consideration be given to quite detailed matters raised at the inquest.

"The police investigation was very thorough, and the investigative officer came to the point that the death of Maia was an accident, and criminality would not be attributed ... we ask his opinion be taken into account."

The inquest had heard evidence from child protection worker Louise Wordon that the parents had made "troubling statements" regarding their child's condition.

Ms Wordon told the court that during a meeting Mr Comas had said: "I'm 32, she (Ms Razniak) is 28. What do we do with it? It's like a sentence, like we're dead."

Ms Wordon also said Mr Comas had asked why children "with these disabilities" were kept alive.

He had said: "It doesn't seem fair on the children."

The inquest also heard Ms Razniak had spoken to Department of Community Services (DOCS) about committing suicide by jumping off a cliff with the girl.

In his findings, Mr Mitchell noted that Ms Razniak, who was a trained swimming instructor, had told police she was too "freaked out" to administer CPR to Maia when she was found in the pool.

"The pool in which she died was small, but the water reached up to about knee height, which was more than sufficient to pose a grave danger to her, as her swimming-instructor mother should have realised," he said.

The inquest had heard that on the morning of Maia's death, Ms Razniak had called out for the child and looked for her around the house but failed, along with Maia's paternal grandmother, to find her.

"Up to this point, their evidence is that neither lady had looked in the pool," Mr Mitchell said.

Mr Mitchell said given the mother's experience in water safety it was "not clear how she could have failed to notice the pool".