The father of an 11-year-old autistic boy who died at a swimming pool at a council-approved respite centre wept yesterday as an inquest was told of the desperate efforts to save his son.

Roger Pullman's son Adrian had been at the foster centre – run on the farm of Philip Crofts and his wife Christine Shuttleworth-Crofts – for only about an hour when the tragedy occurred on August 10, 2003.

He was found face-down in the shallow end of the 30ft-long swimming pool after returning with another child, without the couple's knowledge.

He was airlifted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital but could not be revived.

Mr Pullman, from Taleford, near Ottery St Mary, who has waited almost nine years for the inquest into his son's death, wiped away tears as Mr Crofts' account was read to the hearing.

Mr Crofts said he, his wife, Adrian and another child had been playing happily in the pool on what was one of the hottest days on record.

They all left the pool at about 5pm to prepare tea when Mr Crofts noticed Adrian, who could not swim, and another boy were back in the water. Initially, Mr Crofts said, he thought Adrian was "doing his pretend diving again" but quickly realised something was wrong.

"Adrian was still face down in the water," he said.

"The child jumped in the pool and started to push Adrian over to our side of the pool.

"With the last push in our direction, Adrian banged his head against the side of the pool, not hard, but still didn't bring his head up out of the water."

His wife started trying to resuscitate the 11-year-old while Mr Crofts ran inside the house to dial 999.

"I keep reliving the tragedy over and over in my head and questioning if I had done things differently, would it have made any difference?" said Mr Crofts. "I can't understand why he did not stand up because he was strong and was not out of his depth. He was only in 3ft of water."

In her statement, Mrs Shuttleworth-Crofts said Adrian and the other child had been alone for no more than five minutes.

The couple, who lived at Little Farm, Southleigh, near Colyton, East Devon, had been approved as foster carers in Devon in 2001 but had six years' experience in Dorset.

They were used by Devon Social Services and by Lifeways Child and

Family Services Ltd, which dealt with children with varying degrees of disability. Adrian, who had stayed at the farm once before, was on an "emergency placement" overnight.

The inquest, at County Hall in Exeter, was told that Mr Crofts and his wife were unable to be called to give evidence because they no longer live in England or Wales.

Post-mortem examinations revealed that Adrian showed evidence of having drowned and had a minor encephalopathy brain infection at the time of his death, which could in theory have caused respiratory failure or caused him to inhale water.

But experts said had it been a factor in his death, they would have expected him to show symptoms of the brain injury before he died.

The inquest, due to last three weeks, continues.