'My boy fell 200ft to his death, then they tried to say it was his fault'

He had gone on a trip with the Scouts to north Wales with friends. His mum thought he would be safe and waved him goodbye as they took off to Llandudno - but he never returned.

Ben Leonard tragically fell to his death at the Great Orme, in Llandudno, during the trip in August 2018. After taking a different path with two friends unsupervised, the 16-year-old ended up on a 50cm ledge and lost his footing, plunging down 200ft and was left with a serious head injury.

The youngster from Reddish had just learned he had done well in his GCSEs at Denton Community College and he had enrolled to study film-making at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays - but never got to live out his dreams.

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 that this was contributed to by neglect by The Scout Association.

But that wasn't the end for his mum Jackie and the family - as a bid was then entered by the Scout leaders to overturn the conclusion of the inquest. Mr Sean Glaister and Ms Mary Carr then applied for a judicial review of the inquest findings of unlawful killing, heard at the High Court in Manchester in December last year.

The Scout Association denied asking for a judicial review and say they have made a 'significant number of changes to improve our safety policies and procedures' following the tragedy.

On Thursday (January 30), judge Mr Justice Fordham ruled the coroner had directed the jury fairly and correctly and rejected the appeal to review the inquest findings.

"They just don't think they've done anything wrong"

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News following the ruling, Ben's mum Jackie said that she feels the Scout Association are 'still not facing the facts' over the death of her son and that the Scout leaders on the trip 'don't think they've done anything wrong'.

"When they brought the review last year, we weren't surprised the outcome was being challenged," Jackie said. "They just don't think they've done anything wrong, even now.

"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.

"This has been a part of our lives now for six-and-a-half years. Going to court, having the pain dragged up again and people all trying to blame him.

"We are relieved it's over, but it will be strange not having to go back into a court room again because it's all we've known. We've had to sit by and let all this happen, and it's been incredibly difficult and painful. We have been powerless."

Inquest found Ben was killed unlawfully

In February last year, five years of unimaginable grief reached an end when the jury returned their conclusion at an inquest into Ben's death.

The findings were delivered at the third and final inquest, deeming that their son had been unlawfully killed - and The Scout Association was to blame.

The inquest heard allegations that Ben's family were lied to, with suggestions the 'approach' initially taken by the Scout Association was to blame the boy for the tragedy amid worries over 'reputational damage' to the organisation.

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.

Following two months of evidence, the jury concluded Ben had been unlawfully killed by the most senior Scout leader on the trip, and an assistant Scout leader, and that this was contributed to by neglect by The Scout Association. The coroner has asked the police to investigate TSA for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Ahead of the walk up Great Orme, there was 'no brief, instructions or risk' assessment', the jury decided. Ben and two other scouts split off from the main group and went along a different path up the rock but one of the leaders 'did not give any instructions to regroup or stay on the safe path', said the jury. Ben and the two other scouts were 'left unsupervised' as they walked to the cliff edge, they said.

The teenager 'thought he could see a quicker way down the Orme and attempted to follow animal tracks down the cliff edge. During his descent, Ben slipped and fell from the cliff', the jury concluded. Ben died of a head injury.

Coroner David Pojur revealed he had written a 'prevention of further deaths' report which outlined a series of failures including, the inquest heard, that there was 'no effective leadership' in the group that day and that TSA had given a 'misleading impression' of its actions after the death.

"All we want is for children to be safe"

Following the conclusion of the inquest, Jackie previously told the Manchester Evening News that the tragedy was made out to 'have been Ben's own fault'.

She said at the time: "It was just such a relief. It was like we had been finally vindicated, if you like. There have been times when people tried to make out it was Ben's own fault, so it was just such a massive relief."

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.

Speaking again on Thursday (January 30), Jackie called once again for a public inquiry to be held for the Scouts to be regulated by an outside body and have tougher legislation to 'prevent the deaths of other children'.

She is currently campaigning alongside three other families who have lost boys while on Scouts trips. Lee Craddock, 11, Scott Fanning, 11, and Jack Saunders, 21, died while on the trips between 1995 and 2018.

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.

Jackie added: "This review has straight away caused us even more grief. What else did they think it would do?

"People commented saying my son was 16 and he should've known better. But he was still a minor, and under the supervision of adults.

"I know Scout leaders who are good and do what they should. The Scouts in general are people who do amazing work and we don't want to see them disbanded, but all we want is for children to be safe and looked after.

"Who is checking these safety policies and procedures? They are looking after half a million children and I believe they should be regulated by an outside body. Nobody should ever have to go through what we've been through."

The Scout Association issues statement as 'changes' made to safety measures

In a statement, the Scout Association said they did not bring the judicial review, which was instead sought by the Scout leaders.

It said that the safety of children and young people is its 'number one priority' and that a 'significant' number of changes have been made to improve safety policies and procedures.

A spokesperson said: “The safety and wellbeing of young people in our care is the number one priority at The Scouts.

"We did not ask for the Judicial review that took place in December 2024 or pay for the legal fees of the leaders who sought the judicial Review.

"We remain firmly committed to the actions we set out in our response to the Coroner’s PFD report from the inquest in April 2024.

"As a result of this work we have already made a significant number of changes to improve our safety policies and procedures. We will be publishing the third update on this work in February."

Each quarter the Scout Association reports its progress on the 'commitments that we made' following Ben's inquest and the issuing of the Prevention of Future Deaths report.