Three-year-old Noah Woods got out of a playground through a gap in its fence before running towards the pond where he was later found dead, an inquest has heard.
New details about Noah’s disappearance were given as the inquest into his death opened in Ipswich on Friday.
Noah had gone to an under-fives playground in Brantham, Suffolk, with a relative on September 15 as part of his normal routine. CCTV showed him playing there at 2.13 p.m.
He was last captured by the motion-activated camera at 2.37 p.m. Detective Chief Inspector Matthew Connick told the hearing that Noah then went through a gap in the playground fence into a memorial garden.
From there, he went through an open gate and headed in the direction of Decoy Pond. His relatives went after him.
The inquest heard they were closely following Noah, trying to keep up and shouting after him. But after around 200 metres, the three-year-old could no longer be seen.
Police were called and what followed became a huge search across the village. Around 1,300 people joined emergency services looking for Noah, who was partially deaf, speech delayed and being assessed for autism.
The search ended the following afternoon when Metropolitan Police divers found him in Decoy Pond.
The inquest heard Noah was around five metres from the bank, among submerged tree roots, in water estimated to be 1.8 metres deep. His medical cause of death is still under investigation and police are not treating the death as suspicious.
Noah’s family remembered him as a “happy, cheeky, playful” little boy who adored his baby brother and had only recently begun finding his voice. The inquest has now been adjourned, with a full hearing to take place at a later date.
2026-09-25 20:30:00
