THE family of a boy who fell to his death while on an Explorer Scouts trip of the Great Orme have urged for The Scout Association to be held to account by an outside body.
Ben Leonard, 16, of Stockport, suffered fatal head injuries when he fell about 200ft after slipping in Llandudno on August 26, 2018.
Following a seven-week inquest into his death at Manchester Civil Justice Centre, a 10-person jury concluded yesterday that Ben was unlawfully killed by the trip’s Explorer Scouts leader, and assistant Explorer Scouts leader, contributed to by neglect by The Scout Association.
During the inquest, Sean Glaister was named as the trip’s leader, and Mary Carr as the assistant leader.
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The inquest had heard that none of the leaders on the trip - Mr Glaister, Gareth Williams and Ms Carr – were suitably qualified first aiders, a breach of Scout rules.
Their hike up the Orme had also not been risk-assessed, with Ben slipping and falling to his death as he was looking for a way back down.
Currently, The Scout Association is governed by a council of between 400 and 600 members as determined by the Royal Charter of 1912 and the Supplemental Royal Charters of 1949, 1959, 1967 and 1991.
But Jackie Leonard, Ben’s mother, said that the conclusion of the inquest into his death must be the catalyst for this to change.
She and her husband, David, said: “We've never had any faith or trust in the Scouts. This verdict must surely now mean they have to regulated by an external body.
“We also feel that right at the beginning, the Scouts relied on the fact that we didn't understand why we would need legal representation.
“Normal people can't necessarily afford the level of legal representation we've had throughout this inquest because there is no legal aid, and we were up against the enormity of the whole organisation.”
Mrs Leonard added: “This has been our life for five-and-a-half years. Something’s got to change, and that’s what we’re hoping for.
“Ben made a judgement which he shouldn’t have been allowed, and wasn’t equipped, to make. Everything about that trip was wrong.
“I want it to change so that they’re regulated by an outside body, and they’re made to have someone to look at them.”
Mrs Leonard said she had no previous concerns about Ben’s Scouts group prior to the Llandudno trip, but said she could never forgive Mr Glaister or Ms Carr for what ultimately transpired.
Neither of them were in attendance for yesterday’s conclusion, which angered Mrs Leonard, who also labelled her family’s treatment from The Scout Association “disgusting”.
She added: “She (Ms Carr) is not facing up to what she did, to her errors and neglect.
“I don’t think he (Mr Glaister) thinks he’s ever done anything wrong. For him to say (while giving evidence) that he was worried about getting a ‘knock on the door’… imagine getting the knock on the door that we had.
“We did ask what he did in his last 24 hours, but we’ve only found out in this inquest that they’d been for a three-hour hike (of Yr Wyddfa) the day before, and played Trivial Pursuit at the pub.
“All we were told was that the leaders had done nothing wrong.
“Nobody went there that day to cause Ben any harm, but they just didn’t do the simple things that they should have done, and haven’t since acknowledged their mistakes.
“One of the most upsetting things is that they were totally avoidable mistakes.”
Sharon Collins, whose 11-year-old son, Scott Fanning, died while on a Scouts trip in 1998, has regularly attended the inquest with Ben’s family.
She said: “They’re like forgotten boys. But they’re not forgotten to us, and the impact of their deaths is life-changing, forever.
“It’s not just grief and loss, it’s anger, it’s disbelief. It’s unforgivable. To lose one life is one too many.”
The Leonard family also credited the work of their “absolutely amazing” legal team, who have supported them through a “fog of grief”.
Jill Greenfield, head of serious injury at Fieldfisher law firm, was among those representing the “incredible” Leonards.
She said: “The documents paint a pretty grim picture of (The Scout Association) failing to disclose key information, and failing to tell the truth about what happened to Ben.
“It’s been very intense, but really important. I said I’d get them the truth; I always wanted to expose the truth for them, and I really think we’ve done that.
“Even though the circumstances are absolutely tragic, all you can ever do is support them and get to the truth, and not give up.”
Jennie Price, chairwoman of The Scout Association Board of Trustees, said yesterday: “We take today’s conclusion extremely seriously.
“We want to restate our wholehearted apology to Ben Leonard’s family and our deepest sympathies continue to be with his family and friends.
“As an organisation we are committed to learning. The jury heard how in this instance the local leaders did not follow our safety rules and processes.
“As a result of Ben’s tragic death in 2018, we have already made many changes to our risk assessments, safety rules, training and support we give our volunteers.
“Keeping young people safe from harm remains our number one priority at scouts.
“We emphatically refute allegations made in court about any criminal action on behalf of The Scout Association.”
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