Baby found dead in neighbour’s pool

AN 18-month-old British girl has drowned near her parents’ remote country house in Spain.

Molly May Counsell fell into a neighbour’s swimming pool after wandering off the family property.

Her parents, Lucy Counsell, 34, and John Richards, 61, had set up a wesbite dedicated to their daughter with hundreds of photographs.

Molly May was playing in the spacious grounds of the family’s farmhouse when they noticed she was missing on Saturday afternoon.

After a 35-minute search Ms Counsell found her daughter unconscious in a neighbour’s pool. She was unable to resuscitate her.

The parents were interviewed by police on Saturday evening and were yesterday thought to be comforting each other in their home in southern Spain.

The website they had set up showed photographs of Mr Richards and Ms Counsell cuddling their baby daughter and swimming with her at a pool in Spain.

A spokesman for Spain’s civil guard, investigating the drowning, said yesterday: “The young girl was with her parents at their home when they realised they had lost sight of her. She had wandered off and fallen into a neighbour’s swimming pool. When they found her she was already unconscious. We are investigating but everything points to a tragic accident.”

Molly drowned in two feet of water. When the mother realised she could not resuscitate her daughter, they began driving to a medical centre for help.