Scouts admit they were 'at fault' for death of boy, 16, who fell 200ft from cliff
04.01.2024 - 20:15
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
The Scout Association has apologised and said it "accepts responsibility" for the death of a teenage boy who died after falling 200 feet off a cliff edge, an inquest has heard.
Ben Leonard, from Stockport, suffered a serious head injury when he fell from the Great Orme in Llandudno, North Wales. The 16-year-old was on a trip with the Reddish Explorer Scouts when the tragedy happened on August 26, 2018.
At an inquest into Ben's death at Manchester Civil Justice Centre today (Thursday), Jim Ageros KC - a lawyer representing The Scout Association - said the organisation "accepts it was at fault for Ben's death".
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Issuing an apology to the teenager's family on behalf of the Scouts, he said: "The Scout Association accepts it was at fault for Ben's death and accepts responsibility for it and again wishes to apologise to you and your family for your tragic loss."
The inquest had earlier heard how Ben, from Reddish, and two friends had become separated from the rest of their group and were unaccompanied by any of the three Scout leaders on the trip when he fell from the cliff edge. There was also no suitably qualified first aider on the expedition.
Two previous inquests into Ben's death - in February 2020 and November 2022 - have been abandoned due to legal issues.
Jackie Leonard, Ben's mother, told the latest inquest that the Scout Association had not accepted responsibility for her son's death at either of the previous hearings, describing their approach as "defensive". She added that she had never received an apology from any of the scout leaders who went on the trip.
She said the Scout Association had even tried to portray her son