London - A mother could face jail after her baby daughter drowned in the bath.
Kayla Lynton is alleged to have been checking social media when six-month-old Naomi slipped under the water.
Lynton, 23, was looking after Naomi while her husband Ilan was at work. The British recruitment worker received a panic-stricken call from his wife to say she had found the baby unconscious in the bath at their flat in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
Naomi was taken to hospital in a coma but attempts to resuscitate her failed and she died a week later. Israeli police are investigating claims that Lynton had left her unattended while she checked Facebook and Instagram.
It is alleged that she initially told officers she left the baby to go to the lavatory, the Sunday Mirror reported. Lynton, who previously ran a childcare business, was arrested and has been freed on bail. Her husband has confirmed that police have seized her phone as part of the investigation into the tragedy in July.
A source said: "Kayla is currently waiting for a court date.
"She’s on a surety bond which means she must appear in court and at a police station when she’s required. Police are looking at whether she was on social media when she should have been caring for her daughter.
"She’s obviously devastated and now she’s having to deal with a potential criminal case as well."
Lynton’s lawyer, Ofer Bartal, said his client "does not know what to do with herself". He added: "After she saw Naomi was unconscious she tried to resuscitate her and she called the emergency workers and police.
"We are now waiting for the police to decide if they will indict her and for what."
Mr Lynton – whose mother was born in Israel – moved to Tel Aviv more than five years ago from Shoreditch, east London.
He married Kayla in 2015 after a whirlwind romance and she had their first child, Elizabeth, now two, less than a year later.
Police questioned Lynton at the time of Naomi’s death.
But detectives are now following up on the claims that in the ten minutes before the tragedy she was checking social media sites. Her £420 (about R7 600) surety bond shows possible charges being considered are causing severe injury to the helpless, neglect of a minor, injury through negligence and negligent supervision of a child.
Israeli legal experts say if convicted of the most serious of these offences, Lynton could face up to nine years in jail.