My teen son fell 200ft to his death on Scouts holiday – they tried to pin the blame on him… we were powerless
THE mum of a teenager who died on a Scouts holiday has claimed the association are "still not facing the facts" over his death.
Ben Leonard, 16, suffered a serious head injury when he fell about 200ft at Great Orme in Llandudno, North Wales.
He died while on a trip with the Reddish Explorer Scouts from Stockport, Greater Manchester, on August 26, 2018.
Ben and two friends took a different path from other Scouts, unsupervised by any Scout leaders, who had "lost" the trio on the Orme.
Ben ended up on a 50cm ledge, which was an animal track, when he lost his footing, slipped and fell to his death.
Following a two-month inquest last year at Manchester Civil Courts of Justice, a jury found Ben was unlawfully killed by the most senior Scout leader on the trip, and an assistant Scout leader, and this was contributed to by neglect by The Scout Association.
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The law prevents inquest juries from naming any individual in conclusions.
During the inquest, the Scout leader on the trip, Sean Glaister, declined to answer a series of questions from Ben Richmond KC, lawyer for Fieldfisher, the law firm representing Ben's family.
Mary Carr was named as the assistant Scout leader on the trip.
David Pojur, assistant coroner for North Wales east and central, referred The Scout Association and an employee, who cannot be named by court order, to North Wales Police to investigate for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
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But after the inquest, Mr Glaister and Ms Carr applied for a judicial review of the inquest findings of unlawful killing, heard at the High Court in Manchester in December.
On Thursday, Mr Justice Fordham ruled the coroner Mr Pojur had directed the jury fairly and correctly and rejected the appeal to review the inquest findings.
Ben's mother, Jackie Leonard said: "We are just relieved it is now over and the judicial review failed.
"We need to try to move forward now but with Ben in our hearts always."
At the beginning of the inquest last year, the third after two previous inquests were aborted, The Scout Association for the first time publicly apologised and accepted responsibility for Ben's death.
The inquest also heard Ben's family were lied to as The Scout Association was worried about "reputational damage".
Ben's family were told "people who try and take on the Scouts are never successful" and that "no-one can touch the Scouts".
Ben's mum Jackie told the the Scout leaders on the trip "don't think they've done anything wrong".
She said: "When they brought the review last year, we weren't surprised the outcome was being challenged.
"They just don't think they've done anything wrong, even now.
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"It upsets me because they aren't facing the facts that their actions led to his death. Even after the conclusion they were still adamant."
Around 500,000 young people and 145,000 adult volunteers take part in Scouting projects and activities each week, according to the association's own figures.
