‘Beautiful’ lady, 12, was killed by falling department whereas enjoying on rope swing ‘which ought to have been eliminated’, inquest hears
A 12-year-old girl died after she was hit by a falling branch while playing on a rope swing which ‘should have been removed’ from a tree six months earlier, an inquest heard.
Brooke Wiggins died days before her 13th birthday after she was trapped by a branch that broke off the tree she was swinging from.
Her friends called for help and brothers Edward and Patrick Delaney tried to save her, but were not able to remove the fallen piece of wood.
Ambulances were called to Grove Place in Banstead, Surrey and it took between 90 minutes and two hours to free Brooke using specialist equipment.
But the schoolgirl had suffered severe crush injuries and died soon after.
The inquest heard the tree Brooke had been swinging from on November 9, 2024, maintained by Surrey County Council, had been inspected in May 2022 and was due for re-inspection in May 2024, which did not take place.
Acting on behalf of Brooke’s father Lee Wiggins, Christian Weaver said that had the inspection been carried out, any rope swing found on the tree should have been removed, ‘as per policy’.
Representatives for Surrey County Council said expert evidence shows an inspection may not have achieved a ‘material different outcome’.
Brooke Wiggins, pictured, a 12-year-old girl who died when a tree branch fell on her, was using a rope swing which ‘should have been removed’ six months earlier, an inquest heard
She was playing with friends when the branch snapped and caused her to become trapped
Ambulances were called to Grove Place in Banstead, Surrey and it took between 90 minutes and two hours to free Brooke using specialist equipment (General view of the scene)
In a statement read by assistant coroner Ivor Collett on behalf of Brooke’s mother, Claire Etherington, she was described as a ‘beautiful, fun, caring and loving girl’ who had ‘the most incredible way of lighting up every room she went into’.
‘She was always surrounded by the people who loved her, and it’s easy to see why – she gave so much love back,’ her mother said.
Brooke loved dancing, art, singing and taking photographs and took pride in expressing herself, and ‘never went anywhere without her eyelashes on’, she said.
‘She was a smart girl with so much potential.
‘We will always wonder what she would have gone on to achieve in her life,’ Ms Etherington said.
She added that she hopes knowing what happened to Brooke will bring ‘a small sense of closure’ and ‘some understanding’.
In a second statement read by Mr Collett, Brooke’s father told the inquest his daughter was an ‘amazing young woman’, who was ‘bright’ and ‘very funny’.
He said: ‘I am devasted that my baby girl has been taken from me.
‘She packed so much into her short life.
‘Only 12 years old, and now she’s gone forever.
‘When I think of her, I ask myself, ‘why my darling Brooke?’
‘If only people had done their job properly… the one thing they are paid to do, and did it properly, Brooke would still be here,’ Mr Wiggins added.
Speaking at the start of the hearing, Mr Collett said: ‘This is a particularly sad inquest.
‘Of course, there are no happy inquests, but this is dreadful because it concerns the death of a young child and there’s no escaping that.
‘To the family, I am bound to sound, at times, rather cold and distant… (but) I do not take away for a moment the unending pain felt by the family by the loss of their beloved daughter.’
At the pre inquest review last October, Mr Collett said the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had carried out an investigation, alongside tree experts from Surrey County Council, the local authority which owned the tree. Confusingly, a different local authority, the London Borough of Sutton, owned the land on which Brooke fell.
Mr Collett said: ‘What this inquest will really be about is the role of Surrey County Council in respect of the ownership and maintenance of the tree.’
He added: ‘There is no suggestion that Brooke and her friends were doing anything wrong. It was public land. There was a bridleway they walked along to get to it.
‘It’s not as if they clambered over a fence to gain access to land they were prohibited from.’
The assistant coroner told the hearing that it was ‘a tree that any normal child might look at and think it was a tree for playing on’.
Mr Collett said police bodyworn footage would be too distressing to play in court.
‘It’s so upsetting to think of a 12-year-old child in this situation,’ he added. ‘It’s the most terrible thing for any family to endure.
‘We owe it to Brooke to investigate properly and allow a conclusion to be fully informed.’
The inquest continues.
