| SPOTLIGHT |
Newcastle City Council has been fined £280,000 following a prosecution that alleged the local authority failed to detect and take care of a decaying tree that later fell on a school playground resulting in the death of a six-year-old girl.
Ella Henderson was playing at Gosforth Park First School in Newcastle upon Tyne on 25 September 2020 when a decaying willow tree collapsed. She was taken to a local hospital but died the following morning.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the tree had decayed and was in a poor condition and that the local authority had failed to identify the extent of the decay or to manage the risk posed by the tree.
The council pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 at South Tyneside Magistrate yesterday (10 January).
Section 3(1) of the 1974 act states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."
The court ordered Newcastle to pay costs of £8,020 on top of the £280,000 fine.
Mr and Mrs Henderson said: "We are devastated beyond words to hear of the number of times that this outcome could and should have been changed. No family should ever have to go through what we are going through."
They added: "We hope lessons will be learned from this and feel there needs to be better education and information around which trees are appropriate for school playgrounds and the size they are allowed to grow to."
Newcastle's Chief Executive, Pam Smith, said Ella's death "was a devastating tragedy, and our hearts go out to her family and friends."
Smith added: "Whilst we take our health and safety responsibilities very seriously, we fully accept that there were failings in our processes which is why we have pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity. We note the Judge's comments today and fully accept the sentence of the court.
"Immediately following the incident, we reviewed our processes and as a result, we have put in place new procedures to prevent something like this from ever happening again.
"We would like to offer our sincere and profound condolences and apologise unreservedly to Ella's family for their unimaginable loss."
Adam Carey
