- A British jury ruled Thursday that the death of 16-year-old Ben Leonard on a scouting trip amounted to unlawful murder.
- In 2018, Leonard lost his footing while hiking in Llandudno, Wales, falling approximately 60 meters and sustaining serious head injuries.
- Leonard and his two friends were reportedly unsupervised at the time of the incident, and neglect by the Scout Association is believed to have contributed to his death.
A British jury on Thursday found that a 16-year-old boy who died on a scouting trip in 2018 was unlawfully killed, and a coroner referred the Scout Association to British police for an investigation.
Ben Leonard was on a hiking trip with a group of scouts in Llandudno, north Wales, in August 2018 when he lost his footing on the edge of a cliff and fell about 200 feet, sustaining serious head injuries.
During a two-month inquest into his death, the jury heard that the boy and his two friends were separated from other scouts and ended up on a ledge unsupervised.
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There were no qualified first aid personnel on this expedition, which was in violation of Scout expedition rules.
The jury found the traveling scout leader and his assistant responsible for Leonard’s death. It was also found that neglect by the Scout Association contributed to the boy’s death.
Assistant coroner David Pojour referred the Scout Association and unnamed staff to North Wales Police for an investigation into whether they conspired to pervert the course of justice.
The first inquest into the boy’s death took place in February 2020, but Mr Pojur said at the time that the Scout Association had failed to provide the court with sufficient information and had given jurors a “misleading impression”. Dismissed.
The Union Jack is photographed against a cloudy sky. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Lawyers for the Scout Association sought a legal ban on reporting on the police referral, but the coroner rejected the request after British media opposed it.
The Scout Association publicly apologized and accepted responsibility for Leonard’s death at the start of the current inquest. The organization said Thursday it had changed its risk assessments and safety rules since 2018, but denied allegations of criminal wrongdoing.
Jenny Price, Chair of the Scout Association’s Board of Directors, said: “We take today’s conclusions very seriously and would like to once again extend our sincere apologies to the family of Ben Leonard, and to his family and friends. I would like to extend my deepest condolences.”
“We categorically refute all allegations of criminal conduct made in court on behalf of the Scout Association,” she added.
Leonard’s mother said the apology was too late. She also called for more oversight of scouts.
Jackie Leonard said: “Waiting this long for this verdict means we’ve been living in limbo for years.” “We couldn’t move forward.”
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Lawyers for Leonard’s family said there had been 12 deaths related to scouting or scouting trips in the UK over the past 30 years.
