Bernard Richmond KC instructed by Jill Greenfield of Fieldfisher acted for the family of Ben Leonard at the inquest touching his death, held over 7 weeks at the Manchester Civil Justice Centre (3rd Jan – 22nd Feb).

Ben, who was just 16 at the time of his death, was on a Scouts trip to the Great Orme in North Wales.  There was no proper risk assessment or planning by the leaders and inadequate supervision.  The inquest also highlighted serious flaws in the monitoring systems of The Scouts Association.

The jury returned a unanimous conclusion of Unlawful Killing by the Scout Leader and his assistant contributed to by Neglect by the Scouts Association.   The Assistant  Coroner has written a lengthy Report for the Prevention of Future Deaths and the family have called for a Public Inquiry.

This inquest will have far reaching implications.  The parents of other people who have died on Scout trips have joined with the Leonard Family in criticising the Scouts Association for failing to learn the lessons from these tragedies and in supporting the call for a Public Inquiry.

The inquest also demonstrated the importance for families in inquests receiving proper legal advice and representation.

Bernard, who also sits as an Assistant Coroner said “It was a privilege to work with Jackie, Dave and Tom Leonard, who have spent over 5 years trying to get to the truth of what happened to Ben.  With my amazing team from Fieldfisher (Jill Greenfield, Harvinder Kaur and Harriet Salvesen-Sawh) and my superb junior, Nick McCall, we chipped away until the true, disturbing picture emerged.  I am proud of what we achieved and humbled by the strength and courage of Ben’s family