Girl's school trip mudslide death ruled accident

The death of a 10-year-old girl caught in a mudslide while on a school trip has been ruled an accident by an inquest jury.

Leah Harrison, a Year 6 pupil at Mount Pleasant Primary School in Darlington, died in May last year during a residential trip to Carlton Adventure in Carlton-in-Cleveland, on the edge of the North York Moors National Park.

In a written statement, Leah's mother Michelle Harrison said her daughter was a "happy-go-lucky person with a gorgeous, infectious smile".

The jury at Teesside Coroners Court concluded Leah's death was accidental and she was "swept off her feet" by the mudslide which left her unable to breathe.

Ms Harrison said although Leah had recently been poorly with tonsillitis she was looking forward to the trip to the adventure centre.

She said she was "proud as punch" to be on the trip.

Activities co-ordinator Paul Godwin told the inquest the mudslide which killed Leah "could not have been predicted and could not have been avoided".

He said the risk was "totally unforeseen" and would not have been included in a risk assessment because there was "no prior indication" of such an event.

Mr Godwin had been supervising another activity at the centre when he was informed of what had happened.

In a statement read to the inquest jury, Home Office pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton said Leah died from "traumatic asphyxia", but had "no natural disease".

A two-month investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) concluded last December that no-one was at fault.

Headteacher Joanne Blackham, who was on the activity trip, said Leah had "really impressed her in the activities" and "pushed herself out of her comfort zone".

When reading a statement she had previously made to the police, she became emotional as she described the mud slide being like a "lava flow".

With mud up to her chest, Ms Blackham tried to pull Leah out by her legs but "there was no movement".

The mudslide at the Hartlepool Borough Council-owned site happened while a Met Office yellow weather warning for heavy rain was in place.

Ms Blackham said she had had no concerns previously about the weather conditions, describing it as "just a rainy day".

"It literally just came out of nowhere, you could hear the roaring and rushing of water and muck.

"It just swept her away, it just took her."

After the inquest, Nick Blackburn, chief executive of Lingfield Education Trust, which runs the school, said: "Almost a year has passed since this heartbreaking tragedy, and our primary thoughts today remain with the family and loved ones of Leah, who are having to cope with an unimaginable loss.

"We continue to be there for them and to remember Leah as a special part of our school community."

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