Scout Association referred to the police boy unlawfully killed

The Scout Association faces being investigated for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice after an inquest jury concluded {that a} 16-year-old boy who plunged 200ft to his loss of life throughout a botched expedition was unlawfully killed.

Ben Leonard slipped and fell from a rocky ledge whereas looking for an ‘simpler manner down’ throughout an unplanned hike on the Great Orme in North Wales in 2018.

He and two mates had turn into ‘misplaced’ by the three scout leaders on the journey after the adults didn’t warn them of the risks of going close to cliff edges, an inquest into the tragedy heard.

Following a two-month inquest at Manchester Civil Courts of Justice, a jury at this time discovered Benn and this was contributed to by neglect by The Scout Association.

The legislation prevents inquest juries from naming any particular person in conclusions.

However Earlier, the inquest was advised the Scout chief on the journey was Sean Glaister and that Mary Carr was the assistant chief.

Mr Glaister declined to reply a collection of questions from the barrister representing Ben’s household after being advised he didn’t want to present responses which could incriminate himself.

It can now be revealed that coroner David Pojur has referred the Scout Association and an worker who can’t be named for authorized causes to North Wales Police to be investigated for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

In one of many darkest days on the planet well-known establishment’s 114 yr historical past, it now faces the potential of being prosecuted over its response to Ben’s tragic loss of life.

Jurors weren’t advised of the police referral and the media had been ordered to not report the matter till they reached their conclusions.

Lawyers for the Scout Association and different people utilized to increase an order banning reporting of the police referral, nevertheless this was rejected by the coroner following opposition from the media.

This night the Scout Association supplied a ‘wholehearted apology’ to Ben’s household however stated it ’emphatically’ refuted allegations of ‘any legal motion’ on its behalf.

Ben was on a visit with the Reddish Explorer Scouts from Stockport, Greater Manchester, when he sustained a deadly head damage falling from the wonder spot close to Llandudno on August 26 2018.

An inquest started in February 2020 however the jury was discharged by Mr Pojur who stated the Scout Association had failed to supply the courtroom with full info and ‘created a deceptive impression’.

In a report, he later stated the organisation was placing the lives of younger folks in danger via insufficient operational practices.

Mr Pojur, assistant coroner for North Wales east and central, issued a report to forestall future deaths which listed 20 considerations.

The newest listening to was held in Manchester to keep away from Ben’s household having to journey to North Wales every day.

At the outset, the Scout Association for the primary time accepted accountability for Ben’s loss of life.

But {the teenager}’s tearful mom Jackie Leonard stated the apology was five-and-a-half years too late and the remedy of her household had been ‘disgusting’.

She stated it was ‘like we did not matter and like Ben did not matter’.

Ben joined the Beavers aged 5 and was an avid reader and movie buff who deliberate to check TV and movie in school.

Mrs Leonard described him as ‘considerate, very humorous, extraordinarily witty’.

But she stated the Scout Association had tried to painting Ben as a ‘wild little one’, taking a ‘defensive’ perspective and till their apology by no means accepting being at fault.

The inquest additionally heard Ben’s household had been lied to because the Scout Association was apprehensive about ‘reputational injury’.

It heard Ben’s household had been advised that ‘individuals who try to tackle the Scouts are by no means profitable’ and that ‘no-one can contact the Scouts’ – regardless of it being obvious from the day of Ben’s loss of life that issues had gone ‘horribly unsuitable’.

The newest inquest heard that Ben and fellow scouts Christopher Gilbert and Alex Jamieson – who had not been given a map or warned about cliffs – turned separated from the remainder of the social gathering.

One of the three scout leaders, Gareth Williams, was telephoned by a second, Mary Carr, who was forward of him, asking if he might see Ben and his two mates.

He stated he advised her: ‘No, I believed they’d be with you.’

Mr Williams then known as Sean Glaister, probably the most senior scout chief on the journey, who then known as one of many boys’ mobiles, however they didn’t choose up so he left a voicemail.

Meanwhile Ben had left his mates – who had been making an attempt to move to a café – saying it could be ‘a lot faster’ to go one other manner, the listening to was advised.

Mr Gilbert, now 20, stated he advised Ben he was being ‘foolish’ for taking a route which he described as ‘actually furry’.

Ben ended up on a 50cm ledge utilized by animals when he misplaced his footing, slipped and fell to his loss of life.

Scout chief Sean Glaister declined to reply a collection of questions after being warned by the coroner that he didn’t must if by doing so he might incriminate himself.

The inquest jury heard strategies that Mr Glaister had believed one other man, Brian Garraway, group Scout chief, was additionally occurring the journey, solely to find he was not current when he received to their campsite in Snowdonia.

It meant no suitably certified first aider was current for the journey to the Orme, which broke Scout guidelines for expeditions, subsequently it mustn’t have gone forward.

Mr Glaister agreed he had not warned any of the Scouts, together with Ben, to not depart the paths up the Orme and he was not conscious of the risks of the cliff edges.

The witness agreed The Scout Association by no means monitored his actions or ensured any coaching he was alleged to endure had ever been carried out.

Ben Richmond KC, representing the household, requested him: `They have hung you out to dry, have not they?’

`Yeah,’ Mr Glaister replied.

‘This might have occurred to any of the leaders on any of the journeys we went on.’

Ms Carr advised the listening to she’d had ‘completely no considerations or worries about the place they had been or what course they had been heading in’.

She had regarded the expedition as ‘a rustic stroll onto the tops’, she stated – nevertheless she admitted she had by no means been up the Great Orme earlier than and didn’t have entry to a map.

Assistant scout chief Mr Williams advised the listening to he had been requested to go as a result of ‘I used to be mainly one other automotive to make use of as transport’, including that he felt the danger of falling was ‘self-evident’.

Mr Williams – who was 26 on the time – stated ‘most of scouting could not happen’ if a level of danger wasn’t acceptable.

He added that as Explorers, making choices about danger was ‘a mandatory a part of collaborating at that degree’.

But he admitted that these collaborating within the journey ought to have been given clear directions to keep away from the cliff edge.

Mr Richmond recommended Mr Williams had ‘misplaced’ the three boys on the stroll up the Orme, placing it to him that there had been ‘an absolute failure to demarcate secure and unsafe areas’.

Mr Richmond requested him whether or not there may very well be ‘a extra primary failure of care… in need of pushing somebody off the cliff your self’.

‘I’m unsure,’ Mr Williams replied.

Matt Hyde, who has been chief govt of The Scout Association since 2013, advised the inquest he wished to have the ability to look Ben’s household within the eye and inform he had carried out his ‘utmost’ to make sure ‘nothing like this occurs once more’.

Asked by Mr Richmond whether or not he had thought-about resigning, Mr Hyde stated he had carried out ‘lots of looking out’ however was dedicated to seeing his accountability for hundreds of younger Scouts ‘via’.

Discharging the jury on the first inquest in 2020, Mr Pojur stated was involved that it had been ‘misled’ concerning proof from the Scout Association’s nationwide security supervisor, Jess Kelly, in regards to the motion taken after Ben’s loss of life in respect of the three leaders on the journey.

The dramatic transfer got here after it emerged solely after that they had begun their deliberations that the leaders had been placed on restricted duties following Ben’s loss of life.

After the inquest, Jennie Price, chair of The Scout Association Board of Trustees, stated: ‘We take at this time’s conclusion extraordinarily critically.

‘We wish to restate our wholehearted apology to Ben Leonard’s household and our deepest sympathies proceed to be together with his household and mates.

‘As an organisation we’re dedicated to studying. The jury heard how on this occasion the native leaders didn’t comply with our security guidelines and processes.

‘As a results of Ben’s tragic loss of life in 2018, we now have already made many adjustments to our danger assessments, security guidelines, coaching and assist we give our volunteers.

‘We will intently evaluate the coroner’s observations and undertake all additional adjustments we will, to do the whole lot in our energy to cease such a tragic occasion occurring once more.

‘Keeping younger folks secure from hurt stays our primary precedence at Scouts.

‘We emphatically refute allegations made in courtroom about any legal motion on behalf of the Scout Association.’

North Wales Police had been approached for remark.

Around 500,000 younger folks and 145,000 grownup volunteers participate in Scouting initiatives and actions every week, in keeping with the affiliation’s personal figures.