Council in court over school trip death

North Yorkshire County Council has pleaded not guilty to health and safety charges following the death of a boy on a school trip to the Yorkshire Dales.

Fourteen-year-old Joe Lister drowned in 2005 when a cave he was visiting as part of an organised school trip to the Bewerley Park Outdoor Education Centre in the Yorkshire Dales, which is owned and operated by the council, became flooded.

The council is charged with failing to ensure the health and safety of employees and non-council employees under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974). The prosecution alleges that flooding of the underground passage – known as the Crawl - in which Joe died was not an unusual event and that staff at the centre had not checked the weather conditions or water levels before the party entered the cave.

The prosecuting barrister, Tim Horlock QC, told the court that “waves of water” were coming over the wall of the nearby dam at Scar House Reservoir, but that no attempt was made to visit the dam to check on the water levels before setting off for the cave.

He said there were "numerous steps" which could have been taken by the council and that  two experienced cavers and a scout leader would later tell the jury they would always check the conditions of the dam and the reservoir before entering the cave.

"We say the risk assessment for Manchester Hole was inadequate," he told the court.

The trial, which began last week at Leeds Crown Court, has been adjourned until Thursday this week to enable the jury to visit the scene of the accident at Manchester Hole Cave.