Scouts UK


A jury in the U.K. found Thursday that a 16-year-old boy who died on a Scout trip in 2018 was unlawfully killed, and a coroner referred the Scout Association to British police for investigation.

Ben Leonard, 16, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, slipped 200ft (61m) from the Great Orme in Llandudno, Conwy, on an Explorer Scouts trip in August 2018. Lawyers for the Scout Association told an inquest in Manchester they accepted they were at fault.

A scout who fell to his death on a trip would still be alive if the walk he was on had been properly planned, a police officer has told an inquest.  Ben Leonard, 16, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, slipped 200ft (61m) from the Great Orme in Llandudno, Conwy, in August 2018. Ben and two friends were walking away from the rest of the group when he slipped and fell, the inquest heard.

The Scout Association has been criticised by a coroner for its "lamentable" disclosure of documents to a teenager's inquest. A hearing into Ben Leonard's death was adjourned by coroner David Pojur after he said the evidence was incomplete.  Ben, 16, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, slipped 200ft (61m) to his death from the Great Orme in Llandudno while on a Scout trip in August 2018. The hearing at Wrexham's Catrin Finch Centre was due to start on Wednesday. The jury at a previous inquest into Ben's death was discharged in February 2021 after the court heard the...

The Scout Association has apologised to the family of a teenager after his inquest was delayed due to concerns a jury was misled. Ben Leonard, from Stockport in Greater Manchester, died after falling from the Great Orme, Conwy, in August 2018.  The 16-year-old was on a trip with Reddish Explorer Scouts at the time. Last year, Mr Pojur issued a report to prevent future deaths, which contained 20 points of concern, to be sent to the Scout Association, after hearing Ben had been unaccompanied by a leader when he fell from the cliff edge.

A 16-year-old boy who died falling from cliffs on the north Wales coast has been described as a "kind, caring, witty and wonderful". Ben Leonard died when he fell on The Great Orme at Llandudno on Sunday.  Paramedics and emergency personnel tried to revive Ben, from Stockport in Greater Manchester, but he died at the scene.

Millions of pounds have been paid out in the last ten years to people who were abused in the Scouts, lawyers say. BBC File on 4 contacted 13 law firms who specialize in child abuse claims, and data from the eight that responded revealed more than £6m had been paid out in compensation in the last decade.