An inquest in Doncaster has ruled that two-year-old Isobel Abigail Maxwell died accidentally after drowning in her family's garden pond on Christmas Day, having gone missing for only a matter of minutes during a family gathering. Newly reported detail from the hearing shows Isobel had knocked over a wax melt burner shortly before she vanished; her mother, Tamara Wallace, went looking for her afterwards simply to reassure her she was not in trouble, not realising she had already slipped outside. Coroner Louise Slater heard that a door had apparently been left open after the family dogs were let into the garden, and that a temporary fence around the pond did not fully enclose it.

Fourteen relatives were at the Doncaster house for Christmas dinner, which had finished at around 2.30pm, when Isobel — known as "busy Izzie" — went missing while moving between rooms playing with toys and presents. Her father, Aaron Maxwell, used his phone as a torch to find her in the dark water and pulled her out; Ms Wallace, who was pregnant at the time, began CPR until paramedics arrived, but Isobel was declared dead at Doncaster Royal Infirmary at 5.55pm. Police confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances, and the coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death, offering condolences to the parents, who chose not to attend the inquest.