Kiara Moore: Toddler drowned when car rolled into water after mother left for 2 minutes to get cash

A toddler died when the car she was in rolled into a river, after her mother left her alone for just two minutes while she retrieved cash from her office.

Kiara Moore, two, was pulled from the River Teifi in Cardigan, southwest Wales, in March and died despite the heroic efforts of police officers who leapt into the river to help. A strong current had dragged her and the car downstream, meaning it took two hours to find her, an inquest heard.

It was just a week before her third birthday.

The court was told that the girl was left alone in the silver Mini for slightly more than two minutes while it was parked outside her parents’ outdoor pursuits business.

Her mother, Kim Rowlands, 29, said she had got into her car at about 3.30pm on 21 March and accidentally sat on and snapped her credit card, meaning she needed to go back into her office to retrieve £10 from a safe to buy food.

While she was inside, the vehicle rolled down a slipway into the freezing river. Ceredigion coroner Peter Brunton said that, on the balance of probabilities, he believed the handbrake had not been set.

When Ms Rowlands came out she called 999 immediately, believing her car had been stolen, only discovering later that it had rolled down a slipway.

Ms Rowlands said in a statement to the court that Kiara had not been strapped in to the front passenger seat and had been in a “mischievous” mood.

“The car keys were still in the driver’s side or in the ignition,” she said. ”As I went into he office I could hear Kiara in the car. When I left she was singing and shouting and laughing.”

CCTV showed Kiara was left alone for two minutes and one second outside the office before the car began to roll down the slipway it was parked on, and ended up in the freezing river 10 seconds later.

Ms Rowlands appeared outside about a minute later and called the police after initially fearing the car had been stolen with her toddler inside.

But the strong current had swept the Mini further down the river and out of sight of the slipway, and it was two hours later before police found it almost completely submerged in water.

PCSO Caryl Griffiths broke down in tears in court when describing how she dived into the river and and helped smash the car’s window to try to rescue Kiara.

“I then felt Kiara’s body,” she said. ”She floated out of the vehicle into my arms. She was wearing a pink jacket which matched the clothing described by her mother.

“As we reached the river bank I took hold over her and lowered her onto the floor, putting her gently on the ground.

“Officers began CPR on her. All I remember is standing there looking at her body on the ground.

“Her head was rolling all around the place and her face was purple.”

Kiara was taken to University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, where she was pronounced dead later that evening.

Aled Thomas, a forensic vehicle examiner, said the car’s handbrake was not engaged when it was found, and said CCTV footage was consistent with it not being engaged at the time it began to roll down the slipway.

He said the vehicle had no defects and was found in third gear, which could have been the result of water gushing into the Mini.

Sergeant Shane Davies, a forensic investigator for Dyfed-Powys Police, said he was unable to say whether the car had been left without its handbrake on or whether Kiara had accidentally lowered it herself while playing.

Kiara’s father, Jet Moore, 41, who runs the outdoor adventure business, said he did not believe Kiara had any interest in playing with controls in the car.

Mr Brunton recorded a verdict of misadventure, saying that Kiara had no control over what happened.

He said: “The question is how these events were able to occur with the gear and the handbrake in the positions described.

“On the balance of probabilities, for that car to roll down the slope into the river, even in third gear, without its handbrake applied, the only inference I can say is that the handbrake was not set for whatever reason.

“It seems quite clear to me that drowning would have occurred within 30 seconds of the car going into the river.

“Her body was not recovered for some two hours later. These were a perfectly lawful set of circumstances that have taken an unexpected turn.”

Additional reporting by PA