Mother of four whose son, 2, drowned while chatted to friends and posted pictures on Facebook is jailed for five years for neglect.

A woman whose two-year-old son drowned in her garden while she was inside her house posting pictures on Facebook has been jailed for five years.  

Claire Barnett was on the internet and chatting on the phone when she was meant to be supervising her son, Joshua, as he played near the pond outside their home near Beverley, East Yorkshire.

She told police she ran outside 'within 10 seconds' of her son falling in the water but the court said it was impossible to know how long he was there. Joshua was later pronounced dead in hospital.

Hull Crown Court heard Barnett, who has four children by three different men, had been warned by relatives to fence off or cover the pond after moving in to the rented house, but ignored their advice. 

Barnett pleaded guilty to four charges of neglect after denying a charge of unlawful killing. Judge Jeremy Richardson, said her son had died as a result of her 'utterly neglectful parenting'.

The court heard she had been contacted by social services in the months before Joshua's death on 17 March 2014.

Crown barrister Peter Moulson, QC, said Barnett was a mother who regularly allowed her children to play outside unsupervised on a busy road near their previous address.

She was reported to the NSPCC in August 2013 after two of her children were nearly run over by a car. At the time, the children had no shoes, inadequate clothing and no supervision.

Mr Moulson, QC, said Joshua had been playing in the large garden outside the rented home. At some point, he fell into the figure-of-eight pond, which was 13m long and 50cm deep in places. 

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Barnett, pictured arriving at Hull Crown Court today 

Barnett made a 999 call to the police at 9.27am reporting her son had fallen in a pond.

She tried to give him emergency first aid, but he was unconscious when he arrived at Hull Royal Infirmary and was pronounced dead at 11am.

Mr Moulson said: 'It is not possible to put and exact period of time he was in the pond. It may have been as short as 20 seconds.

'There was evidence the defendant had been on a mobile telephone in the lounge on Facebook when Joshua was at the pond. The danger present of this neglect was obvious.

'She said she had been on the telephone and on Facebook. She said she had spoken to her partner and uploaded a picture.'  

He said there was evidence of a second picture being uploaded which she had not immediately told police about. 

Mr Moulson said Barnett's family had previously warned her about the pond, telling her she should fence it off or cover it with mesh.  

'None of that was put in place,' Mr Moulson said. 'The defendant we say was well aware of the risk and had taken no steps to have it fenced off.'

He added that Barnett had allowed two children to play alone without any adequate supervision and had given different accounts to different people about what had taken place.   

He said: 'She told the police that she was inside her home at the time. She failed to supervise their play. 

'She was in fact exchanging Facebook messages over the internet at the time she should have been supervising them.'

He said there was evidence she could not have been able to see the children in the garden from where she was stood in the house. 

When interviewed by police, Barnett said she had run out of the house within 8-10 seconds and that if the officers 'spoke to anyone' they would say her children are the 'least neglected in the world'.

Judge Jeremy Richardson, QC, said: 'I don't think it really matters how he got in the pond. The child should have been supervised.

'Children of a young age do all sorts of things, it is there way. This sort of pond would put terror in the mind of any normal parent. 

'You only need to watch the behaviour of good and dedicated mother who take their children to a duck pond. They watch them like hawks in case they fall in and drown.'

In a victim impact statement, the boy's father said his family was devastated.

Grieving: In a victim impact statement, Joshua's (pictured) father said his family was devastated

Barnett pleaded guilty to four charges of neglect after denying a charge of unlawful killing. Pictured,  Joshua

Defence barrister Timothy Roberts, QC, said Barnett had become distracted by a Facebook comment that was posted to her 'rather than the other way around'.  

He said: 'Any mother going about the house can be distracted by a telephone or a washing machine. This was an incident where a message was put up which she responded to.

'She was not on Facebook having a long conversation. It shows the danger the of reacting immediately to unsolicited messages when there are more pressing duties to perform.'

Sentencing Barnett to five years in prison, Judge Jeremy Richardson, QC, said: 'As a result of your utterly neglectful parenting of two very young boys, one has died.

Tragic: The ornate garden pond where Joshua drowned has since been filled in, as seen above

Unsupervised: Joshua had been playing in the large garden outside the rented semi-detached home, pictured

'It is the first duty of any parent to keep his or her child safe. You repeatedly failed in that paramount duty, exposing each of the children to risk of serious injury and death. 

'Your lamentably appalling parenting led to fatal consequences. This is not simply a case of you providing low quality parenting. 

'Your serious repeated long-term neglect by failing to supervise your children and preventing them from being exposed to considerable dangers amounted to criminal conduct. 

'Your culpability is high and this is a very serious case. If you should have any further children, they will almost certainly be removed from you. 

'You pose very serious risks to any child for whom you have responsibility.'