THE DEATH of a teenager who fell from a cliff on Llandudno’s Great Orme “should never have happened”, the opening day of an inquest into his death has heard.

Benjamin Leonard, 16, of Thornley Road North, Stockport, suffered head injuries when he fell about 200ft down a cliff while on a scout trip on August 26, 2018.

A previous inquest into his death resulted in the jury being discharged in February 2020 after a matter of law arose, followed by delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the first day of the full inquest into his death, held in Manchester today (January 4), it was heard that Benjamin had originally been set to climb up Snowdon on the weekend of his death.

The court heard Benjamin, who was a member of the 4th Reddish Scout Group, had undergone a circumcision just the week before, which had left him in “some discomfort” but had improved by the time of the trip.

When bad weather was forecast for that weekend, the trip to Snowdon was changed to an expedition around the Great Orme, with Benjamin’s parents not told of what was now planned or organised for the Llandudno trip.

After meeting at the Grand Hotel, the group eventually made their way up the Great Orme with three group leaders – Mary Carr, Gareth Williams and Brian Glaister – with Mr Williams leading the scouts into the Happy Valley area (of which he had no knowledge).

In “very wet” and windy conditions, Benjamin and two others fell behind, and were without a leader but within eyeshot of them.

They ended up on a different, “well-trodden” path, and believed this was acceptable due to being in eyeshot.

Benjamin was in “some pain” due to his operation, which limited them and slowed the trio down, with the other two boys also having health problems.

The two boys spent some time sitting together as Benjamin went out to explore, and went to find him and located him on a “very high” edge.

After trying to persuade him to come back, he tried to reach the road below via some narrow ledges, which he believed was a 20ft drop.

He traversed narrow and wet rock ledges directly above the cliffs, before slipping and falling from a “significantly higher” 200ft.

An experienced walker, who had witnessed Benjamin edging along and try to regain his footing, then saw him fall onto a bank below and immediately called an ambulance.

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His injuries were “so severe” and he died soon after, with his parents and aunt notified and asked to identify the body.

David Pojur, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central, said the inquest was putting the Leonard family through “further pain and suffering”, which he said was not helped by the “adversarial approach” taken by the counsel for The Scout Association (TSA).

Addressing the conduct of TSA since the start of civil action proceedings, he said: “Every time I have sat in court with the family they have heard a denial of a failure of duty.

“It’s important because the family have had to endure an extremely difficult number of years, and also with the way counsel has approached this inquest.

“It has taken too long to come to this point, there has been no kind of proper assessment or analysis in the years since – this is not litigation and an adversarial approach is not appreciated.”

Midway through evidence in today’s inquest, James Ageros KC, counsel for TSA, issued an apology on behalf of the organisation, saying: “I’d like to make an apology on behalf of the TSA.

“TSA accepts it was at fault for Ben’s death and accepts responsibility for it.

“They wish to apologise to you (Jackie Leonard, Ben’s mother) and your family for your tragic loss.”

Bernard Richmond, representing Benjamin’s family, said Mr Leonard’s name was “sullied” by TSA in the aftermath of his death, after alleged accusations of the family “not having lawyers” with the case being “prevented from being uncovered”.

Mr Pojur noted the TSA apology was “extremely inappropriate”, and added he found it “very, very difficult to accept” and “disappointing” this was not provided earlier in the proceedings.

Benjamin’s father, Dave, said the inquest was a time for “simplicity and clarity”, and that they would not allow TSA and/or group leaders to “bad mouth” his late son.

Mr Leonard’s mother Jackie said the TSA apology had come “too late”, as they had not accepted any responsibility at the first inquest opening in 2020, and had been “defensive” in their approach.

Mr Pojur added: “TSA admitted failings, and this tragic accident that should never have occurred has deeply distressed this family.

“TSA had a duty of care to the child and the organisation of this trip.”

The second day of the inquest into Benjamin Leonard’s death will begin at 10am tomorrow (January 5).