Girl, Six, Crushed To Death By Decayed Tree- What Happened?

 

Newcastle City Council, which was contracted to maintain the trees on its premises, admitted failing to ensure the safety of Ella and others at the school under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The court heard that the tree had been identified as showing signs of decay by a qualified arborist as early as February 23, 2018, when a further inspection was ordered.

However these were carried out by a less qualified team and as a result, the danger posed by the tree, which stood at the very edge of the playground, was missed.

It meant the willow, which had a 35 degree lean and significant decay to its stem, remained standing when it should have been safely felled.

James Towey, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, told the court: ‘The tragic and untimely death of six-year-old Ella Henderson, a Year Two pupil at Gosforth Park First School, happened on September 25, 2020.

‘It was towards the conclusion of lunchtime that Ella was playing with her friends in the playground when a large section of a willow tree that stood on a grassed area adjacent to the playground collapsed and fell directly onto several children.

‘All of them, apart from Ella, were able to climb out from under it and they suffered only superficial injuries.

‘But because of the large piece of tree that fell onto Ella, staff were unable to effect a rescue immediately.

‘She was rescued by the emergency services and taken to hospital. It is most sad that in the early hours of the following morning she lost her life. The cause of death was given as crush asphyxia.’

Ella’s parents Neil and Vikki, who have another daughter Abi, watched proceedings via video link, but Mrs Henderson made a statement which was read to the court.

She said: ‘The hardest part is that all we did was what every other parent does every day. She should have been so safe at school and knowing that I’m the only one who doesn’t get to pick their child up every day is just the worst feeling.

‘When I pass schools on the way somewhere and hear that innocent noise of children playing, I think, that was all she was doing. She was just playing ballerinas with her friends.

‘Life is so unfair, and she was so loved and had so much to give this world. As her reception teacher said, “The world is a much sadder place without Ella in it.”

Mr Towey outlined the council’s failure in its duty of care to the court.

He said the tree needed a further examination by an expert with the highest qualification from Lantra, a body responsible for training arborists and other land-based practitioners.

Mr Towey said: ‘A detailed inspection was carried out by a specialist employed by the council some two and a half years earlier and signs of decay were identified on the tension side of the stem with further decay in the cavity.

‘Further services were carried out by operatives of a lower standard on Lantra.’

Flowering fungii on the bark of the tree should have been ‘a red flag’ that it was decaying but the danger was missed.

The original report from the qualified arborist was also sent to the wrong email addresses in school and was not received by the head for more than two years.

Mr Towey said: ‘There is evidence of the system not working as it should have done in making sure suitably qualified people were carrying out the correct inspection at the correct time.

‘Reports were badly communicated to the school and to other schools in the Gosforth area.

‘The weather on the day had an impact but the failure to carry out a further detailed investigation into the tree’s condition made the failure of the tree foreseeable.

‘The arboriculture team failed to identify the level of decay in the tree, if they had done the tree would likely have been felled.’

Ben Compton, KC, for Newcastle City Council, said: ‘I want to acknowledge the terrible loss that Ella’s parents and family have suffered. Their statement made hard reading, even to the most battle weary lawyer.

Nothing I can say will be comforting, but I do want to send my sincere sympathies to them and for the shortcomings that have been quite accurately detailed by the prosecution on behalf of the council.

“The council swiftly entered a guilty plea; it is encouraging to see a thorough admission of the facts at the earliest opportunity. These shortcomings are well acknowledged.

He said that an expert with a professional Lantra degree should have conducted a second evaluation of the tree but that the request for that inspection had not been detailed enough regarding the danger the tree posed.

The judge described how one of the examinations of the decayed willow tree – identified in court as Tree 11 – by the council team had lasted for just one minute.

Judge Passfield said: ‘One survey appears to have been completed in only one minute, suggesting the bare minimum visual inspection took place despite the original inspection finding signs of decay in 2018.

She decided to base the sum on the £18.8million annual budget of the Operations and Regulatory Services Department, responsible for tree management in the city.

The judge said she agreed the council’s level of culpability was ‘medium’.

Chief Executive of Newcastle City Council, Pam Smith, said: ‘Ella’s death was a devastating tragedy, and our hearts go out to her family and friends.

While we take our health and safety obligations extremely seriously, we completely acknowledge that there were flaws in our procedures, which is why we seized the chance to enter a plea of guilty at the earliest moment. We take note of the judge’s remarks from today and agree wholeheartedly with the ruling.

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“Right away after the occurrence, we reviewed our protocols, and as a result, we have implemented additional measures to ensure that something similar never occurs again.

“We would like to extend our deepest sympathies and unreserved apology to Ella’s family for their unspeakable loss.”