Inquest into death of Stockport Scout finds he was unlawfully killed

Ben Leonard died after falling from the Great Orme in 2018

Author: Olivia DaviesPublished 22nd Feb 2024

An inquest into the death of a Stockport scout has found he was unlawfully killed.

Ben, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, an explorer scout with the 1st/4th Reddish Scouts, died from head injuries when he fell from cliffs while on an organised expedition on the Great Orme, North Wales on August 26 2018.

Brian Garraway was the group scout leader, though he was not on the trip.

Two previous inquests were scheduled and aborted until the current hearing - where the Scouts for the first time admitted responsibility and apologised for failings - some five-and-a-half years after Ben's death.

The Scouts now admit there was a lack of a risk assessment, lack of appropriate supervision and a lack of instructions on the trip that allowed Ben and two other youngsters to venture out alone into a dangerous environment.

This inquest, which began on January 4, heard Ben's family were lied to with suggestions the "approach" initially taken by the Scout Association was to blame the boy for the tragedy amid worries over "reputational damage" to the organisation.

Mr Glaister, the most senior Scout leader on the trip when Ben fell, declined to answer a series of questions from a lawyer representing Ben's family during the inquest, after Coroner David Pojur warned him he did not have to answer some questions if the answer was to incriminate himself.

Ben and two friends had separated from the other Scouts and the Scout leaders, who had "lost" them at the time Ben fell from the cliffs.

The inquest jury also heard suggestions that Mr Glaister had believed another man, Brian Garraway, group Scout leader, was also going on the trip, only to discover he was not present when he got to their campsite in Snowdonia.

It meant no suitably qualified first aider was present for the trip, which broke Scout rules for expeditions.

No formal written risk assessment was done before the Scouts ventured out onto the Orme.

Mr Glaister said he had not warned any of the Scouts, including Ben, not to leave the paths up the Orme and he was not aware of the dangers of the cliff edges.

He agreed the Scout Association never monitored his activities or ensured any training he was supposed to undergo had ever been done.

Bernard Richmond KC, representing Ben's family for law firm Fieldfisher, suggested to Mr Glaister that the Scout Association had "hung you out to dry".

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