THE mum of a three-year-old girl who drowned during an incident at a New Forest home has appeared before the courts charged with murder.

Claire Colebourn, 36, has not yet entered a plea to the charge. Prosecutors allege she murdered daughter Bethan, who was three, on October 19 2017.

Bethan was airlifted to Salisbury District Hospital at around 7pm after an incident at her home in Whitsbury Road, Fordingbridge.

Despite the efforts of paramedics, the tot was pronounced dead at the hospital.

An initial post-mortem examination was inconclusive. Police confirmed yesterday Bethan died as the result of drowning.

Colebourn, now of Sandford Road, Littlemore, Oxford, was served with a postal requisition to appear at Winchester Crown Court.

Judge Keith Cutler CBE sat as a district judge for a first appearance, before sending the matter to crown court. He then sat as a crown court judge to deal with the preliminary hearing.

Colebourn, who spoke to confirm her personal details when she appeared in the dock, will appear before the judge again in July for a plea and trial preparation hearing. She was remanded into custody following the hearing.