Boy drowned in effluent pond on farm

A 4-year-old boy drowned in an effluent pond on a Westland farm while his mother took a 10-minute nap as she was feeling unwell.

Reuben Nolan was found dead on September 15, 2018, after he went missing on the Harihari property where his mum worked.

An inquest was told Jenna Thomson went to lie down about 11.30am and could not find Reuben when she woke 10 minutes later.

Footprints were found in the mud near the edge of one of the effluent ponds on the property about 3.45pm. The boy’s body was found in the pond a short time later.

The effluent pond paddock was fully fenced on three sides with five-wire electrical fencing. The fourth side was enclosed by a large implement shed.

Bryce Thomson, Reuben’s grandfather, said the boy may have climbed a gate or squeezed through a gap to get to the pond.

It was believed once Reuben got into the paddock behind the shed, he walked to a second gate then climbed over it or squeezed through the boarded section of the fence alongside it.

Thomson said Reuben then walked into the clear water pond at the corner closest to the second gate, as indicated by his footprints in the mud.

WorkSafe’s inquiry concluded three wire gates providing access to the pond were closed and secure at the time of Reuben’s death.

It found a small section of the electric fence beside the gate had been replaced with wooden board rail fencing, and was where Reuben could have entered the effluent pond paddock by either climbing over it or crawling underneath it.