Family feel 'vindicated' by unlawful death verdict

Coroner refers Scouts Association to police over attempts to evade blame

- JOHN SCHEERHOUT

AFTER five years of unimaginable grief, the moment of truth for the longsuffering parents of Ben Leonard was delivered matter-of-factly by the foreman of the jury at the teenager's third and final inquest: their son had been unlawfully killed and The Scout Association was to blame.

Within moments, the formality of the occasion at Manchester's Civil Justice Centre was swept away by a tide of emotions. Tears flowed freely, first from Ben's family and then the coroner who - his voice shaking - delivered his own eulogy to the talented lad who went on a trip with the scouts in 2018 and never came back.

Members of the jury also wept.

Then came barely-disguised anger directed squarely at The Scout Association (TSA), for chaotic trip planning which preceded the tragedy and then the years of obfuscation and obsession with reputation rather than trying to find the truth.

It was an attitude some believed continued right up to, and even after, the verdict.

The inquest, which began on January 4 this year, heard allegations Ben's family were lied to, with suggestions the 'approach' initially taken by TSA was to blame the boy for the tragedy amid worries over 'reputational damage' to the organisation.

Within moments of the verdict, and before the inquest had actually concluded its business, TSA published a statement on its website apologising, but blaming 'local leaders' for not following its rules.

The family's KC Ben Richards read out a devastating statement on behalf of the family, who had endured 'the worse five-and-a-half years of [their] lives. It said: "The pain of losing Ben has only been made worse by the constant passing of blame by one person to another and for the never-ending uttering of empty words.