Mother speaks of boy's pond death

Jack's granddad tried to resuscitate him

The parents of a boy who died after being found in a garden pond in Warwick have spoken of their devastation.

Two-year-old Jack Welch was found on Monday afternoon at an address in Clinton Avenue, Hampton Magna.

He was taken to Warwick Hospital and then transferred to the Leicester Royal Infirmary but died on Tuesday afternoon.

Jack's mother, Heather, said her son had managed to open a security gate and got into the garden where the pond was.

In a statement she said he had left Jack with his grandparents while she went to work as a teaching assistant at a special school.

'Fun-loving'

She said Jack had started to help his granddad prepare lunch but then went to the side of the house to play in a specially-contained area, away from the garden.

"Shortly afterwards Dad noticed he couldn't hear Jack playing, looked up and realised Jack had somehow opened the security gate we had put in at the side of the house and he had gone into the main part of the garden," said Mrs Welch.

"He found Jack in the pond and called for an ambulance while trying to resuscitate him."

She and husband David said Jack was a fun-loving, mischievous boy.

"Everyone is going to miss him, not only us but his tow teenage brothers, Nick and Jamie, the rest of his family, friends and everyone in the village," she said.

Police have said the incident is not being treated as suspicious.