Girl's school trip mudslide death ruled accident

An activities co-ordinator has told an inquest into the death of a 10-year-old girl killed in a mudslide that the incident "could not have been predicted and could not have been avoided".

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.

At the start of the inquest at Teesside Magistrates' Court, senior activities co-ordinator Paul Godwin said Leah was with a group of children taking part in a forest walk.

He said the weather "did not cause me any concern for Leah's group", although conditions were misty.

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

He said he was supervising another activity at the centre when he was informed of what had happened.

The inquest jury also heard a written statement from Leah's mother, Michelle Harrison.

She said Leah was a "happy-go-lucky person with a gorgeous, infectious smile".

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.

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.

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

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 Blackburn tried to pull Leah out by her legs but "there was no movement".

She 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."

The inquest, which is expected to last up to two days, continues.