A 36-YEAR-OLD woman is free on bail until later this year after a four-year-old died in a boating accident in the Karuah River last year.

Newcastle Local Court last week heard 36-year-old Tamarah Eaton caused the drowning of a four-year-old when the kayak the pair were in capsized.

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Ms Eaton pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated culpable navigation causing death.

On 1 June 2021, Ms Eaton and the young girl were paired up in a kayak for fishing at Mallabula Point, in a protected waterway on the southern shore of the Karuah River.

Ms Eaton and the girl were part of a small group who decided to go fishing, including family and friends, but were not related and had never met.

They were paired up in Eaton’s kayak because it was the largest and initially fished close to the shore.

In the early hours of the morning of 1 June, Ms Eaton had consumed a large amount of alcohol and it was approximately between 1:36PM and 1:58PM that afternoon when she was trying to navigate back to shore that the kayak overturned.

The four-year-old tragically drowned, while Ms Eaton managed to swim to shore.

Although safety equipment is mandatory in kayaks, neither was wearing a life jacket at the time of the drowning.

Following investigation, Ms Eaton returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.250, five times the legal blood alcohol limit.

While trying to navigate to shore, Eaton “caused the kayak to overturn”, the agreed statement of facts said, however it is not known exactly what happened.

Ms Eaton has repeatedly told police and doctors she has no recollection of what happened.

“I could remember turning the kayak around to come back to shore and then seeing the lights of a rescue helicopter,” Ms Eaton said.

She told police she had drunk vodka at a friend’s house in the early hours of 1 June and then gone to sleep. She said she had not consumed any more alcohol before the kayak capsized.

The court heard Eaton was serving a ten-month intensive corrections order for high-range drink driving at the time she caused the girl’s death.

Eaton was represented by solicitor advocate Monica Wilson when she appeared in Newcastle Local Court last week.

The Department of Public Prosecutions applied to have her detained while she awaits sentence under recent changes to the bail laws, but the detention application was ultimately refused by Magistrate Peter Feather.

Eaton will next appear in Newcastle District Court in August and will face a maximum of fourteen years’ jail when she is sentenced later in the year.

By Tara CAMPBELL