Scout who fell at Great Orme had significant head injury - inquest

Ben Leonard received his GCSE results days before his death

An inquest into the death of a scout who fell during a hike has heard he suffered a "significant head injury".

Ben Leonard fell 200ft (61m) from the Great Orme in Llandudno on an Explorer Scouts trip in August 2018.

The jury heard accounts from medics who tried to help the 16-year-old from Stockport, Greater Manchester.

A statement from Welsh Ambulance Service's Malcolm Roberts described how Ben had been found lifeless and "lying on the road".

Having begun CPR, the paramedic said he spotted a man standing nearby and asked him if he had seen what happened.

"(The man) said, 'He fell from up there', and I noticed a grass bank high above and asked if that's where he'd fallen from," Mr Roberts told the inquest.

"But he said, 'No' and pointed to the very top of the mountain."

Mr Roberts said that Ben, who had received his GCSE results days before, had a "significant head injury" and was showing "no signs of life".

He was eventually joined by an ambulance service colleague and the air ambulance team, who arrived by car due to poor weather conditions.

After extensive resuscitation attempts proved unsuccessful he said they agreed that all possible interventions had been carried out.

A post mortem examination concluded that the medical cause of Ben's death was a head injury.

Ben Leonard had been on a scout expedition walking up the Great Orme in Llandudno

Scout leaders previously told the inquest they accepted responsibility for Ben's death.

The original plan for the two-day trip had been to hike up Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, but that walk was scrapped due to a forecast for heavy rain and high winds.

Instead, on the second day of the trip, the group were taken to walk up the Great Orme.

They began their ascent, the jury was told, with no risk assessments done in advance or on the day.

Coroner David Pojur said Ben, who had joined Beavers at the age of five, and two friends fell behind while walking and took their own route up the hillside.

The hearing in Manchester continues.