Girl drowned 'as father kissed'

Rebecca Hopper drowned, the inquest was told

The married father of a toddler who drowned when her pushchair fell into the sea had let go of her buggy to kiss his girlfriend, an inquest has heard.

Rebecca Hopper, two, from Chatham, was in a double buggy with her baby brother when they fell into the water at Warren Apron near Folkestone on 15 February.

Andrew Hopper told the hearing at Ashford Magistrates' Court he had let go of the buggy "momentarily".

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Pathologist Dr Irene Scheimberg told the inquest Rebecca had drowned and suffered several cardiac arrests during resuscitation attempts.

Accident 'avoidable'

At the time of the incident Mr Hopper and his wife Sarah lived together in Chatham.

Mrs Hopper, who now lives in Dymchurch, was not with them at the time and said after the inquest that the accident could "easily have been avoided".

Rebecca was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, but died the same day. Her eight-month-old brother Lewis survived.

We both looked and saw the buggy had gone Andrew Hopper, father

Mr Hopper, of Rochester, had taken his children to the coast with his girlfriend, Paula Anderson.

A statement from Mr Hopper's interview with Kent Police was read out by coroner Rachel Redman during the inquest.

The software engineer said: "We stopped. I said 'come here', or something like that and we kissed.

"Momentarily I let go of the buggy and seconds into that kiss we heard a plop - it was like someone throwing a stone into the water.

"We broke from that kiss and thought, 'what was that?' We both looked and saw the buggy had gone."

'Not strapped in'

He said they jumped into the water with Mrs Anderson helping Rebecca while he went to the aid of Lewis.

Passers-by then threw a rubber ring into the water. Mr Hopper said the children had not been properly strapped in and the buggy was floating on its side.

The inquest heard the buggy's brake was probably not on

Mrs Anderson told the inquest: "The event is very strange in my head. We struggled in the water, it was very cold and very deep."

Asked by the coroner if the buggy's brake had been on, Mrs Anderson said as far as she knew, "no".

A file containing information on the incident had been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, but it found no criminal offences to be prosecuted, the inquest heard.

Following the hearing, a statement was read on behalf of Mrs Hopper, who chose not to attend the hearing.

It said: "Rebecca was my beautiful baby girl and her brothers and I miss her every second of every day.

"While today's decision will help us take the next step in our recovery, the accident which took my little girl's life could so easily have been avoided."