The death of a toddler who became trapped on a fence at a childcare centre outside Darwin last year after being unaccounted-for for up to 10 minutes was preventable, a coroner has found.

Ebony Thompson was found by a staff member hanging from the 900mm high loop-top fence in a "blind spot" behind a shed at the Humpty Doo Community & Child Care Centre on August 31 and could not be revived.

In handing down her findings into the 22-month-old's death, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage ruled Ebony had been trapped in the fence for at least four minutes after trying to lean over it to see into the centre's chicken coop.

Judge Armitage said the lack of a "yard check" in the centre's "active supervision strategy" represented a "systemic failure" by the centre and childcare regulator Quality Educat

See Full Page