Family of boy, 16, who died on camping trip were lied to as Scouts were worried about 'reputational damage', inquest hears

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The family of a 16-year-old boy who died after falling 200ft off a cliff edge were lied to as the Scout Association was worried about “reputational damage”, an inquest has heard.

Ben Leonard from Stockport, suffered a serious head injury when he fell from the Great Orme in Llandudno, North Wales. The 16-year-old was on a trip with the Reddish Explorer Scouts when the tragedy happened on August 26, 2018.

An inquest into Ben’s death at Manchester Civil Justice Centre, has heard suggestions the “approach” taken by the Scouts was to blame the boy for the tragedy amid worries over “reputational damage” to the organisation. READ MORE: Met Office forecasts NINE hours of heavy rain to batter Manchester as Storm Jocelyn hits READ MORE: Six men deny murder after man dies following Northern Quarter incident Steve Holloway, at the time the Scouts’ county commissioner for Greater Manchester East, said he felt “shame” about his involvement in the episode following Ben’s death.

But Mr Holloway agreed he knew from the day of the 16-year-old's death that things had gone “horribly wrong”. The hearing heard group scout leader, Brian Garraway was not aware of the need to carry out written risk assessments before the trip.