Ealing school cheese allergy death pupil 'meant no harm'

The boy told the inquest he did not know how serious allergies could be

A boy who flicked a piece of cheese at a teenager with a dairy allergy who later died did not mean to harm him, an inquest has heard.

Karanbir Cheema, 13, who also had other allergies and asthma, suffered from a severe reaction at his school in west London on 28 June 2017.

He was taken to hospital in a life-threatening condition and died two weeks later.

An inquest into Karanbir's death heard a piece of cheese landed on his neck.

A boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Poplar Coroner's Court he did not know why he threw the cheese, describing it as "immature behaviour."

The court heard he was given it by a friend during break time at William Perkin Church of England High School in Ealing.

'Extremely diligent'

He then threw the piece of cheese at Karanbir - but said he was not specifically his target.

"After that he just said 'I am allergic to cheese'," the boy said.

"I apologised and went to class after."

The boy admitted he did not know how serious allergies could be and thought they could simply cause a rash or fever.

"I didn't mean to hurt him and obviously I feel bad now", the boy said.

Epipen 'expired'

In a statement, Karanbir's mother Rina said her son was "extremely diligent" at managing his allergies.

Informed that cheese had been put down his neck, she said a consultant at the hospital questioned this because contact through the skin would not cause such a bad reaction.

Giving evidence, Rajvnder Saini who worked at the school, said an Epipen kept in the school for Karanbir had expired in July 2016.

An email was sent to the boy's mother in February 2017 to inform her, the court heard.

The inquest continues.