Outdoor company fined £16,000 after girl dies gorge jumping

FOR Laura McDairmant, a trip to the outdoor centre in the Scottish countryside was a summer ritual she looked forward to. With her twin sister by her side, the action-packed adventure was the perfect holiday.

But two years ago, a moment's hesitation by the 15-year-old during the adrenaline-rush of jumping off a gorge into a pool of water proved fatal.

Now her death has led to a fine of £16,000 for the owners of the adventure centre and fresh concern for parents over the levels of excitement and danger to which their children are exposed.

Laura died after falling on to rocks during a gorge-jumping activity in Galloway.

The pursuit involved leaping 30ft into deep water. However, the schoolgirl, who was on her fifth visit to the centre, suffered serious injuries to her head and pelvis in the incident, and died the next day in hospital.

Kirkcudbright Sheriff Court heard yesterday from experts who said that the site was not suitable for use by children. One said that "if the subject freezes or changes their mind, they are certain to die".

The organisation responsible for licensing such activity centres said they were important in allowing young people to develop physically and socially, and that only an outright ban on outdoor activities could prevent such a tragedy occurring again.

The owners of the Abernethy Trust, which organised the activity and runs four outdoor centres across Scotland, yesterday pleaded guilty to not properly managing the risks involved.

Maria Macguire, QC, defending, said that while an up-to-date, thorough risk assessment of the diving area had not been carried out, instructors would survey the site on each visit.

She said the accident was a case of "misconception and error of judgment, not wilful disregard for safety".

However, Sheriff Kenneth Hogg said the trust had failed Laura by breaching health and safety laws, and that the fine took into account the revulsion of the community.

He said that, while there was no "wilful disregard for Laura's safety", it was a "systematic failure" that led to her death.

"None or sadly little allowance was made for a last moment's doubt by Laura, a young woman who fell to her death, suffering drastic injuries," he said, adding that no fine could remedy her death.

The teenager, from the village of Wetheral, near Carlisle, was among a group of youngsters on holiday at the Barcaple Christian Outdoor Centre near Ringford, north of Kirkcudbright.

The court heard she had been taking part in pool-jumping at a waterfall on the Grey Mare's Tail burn at Black Loch, near Newton Stewart on 25 July, 2006. She hesitated while performing a jump from a cliff into the pool of water and lost her footing, falling on to protruding rocks below.

Laura sustained serious brain injuries and was airlifted to Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. But she never regained consciousness and died with her parents, Brian and Sheila, at her bedside the next day. As well as her twin sister, Laura also had two elder siblings.

The court heard that a party of 17 teenagers had been taking part in the Galloway Forest Park outdoor pursuit activity course, with nine members of staff present. The youngsters were equipped with buoyancy aids, and instructors explained the risks to them.

The group, including Laura, performed a "qualifying jump" to prove they were physically capable, and those judged competent and confident enough moved on to a more difficult jump at a larger rock pool about ten miles upstream.

Those participating were told to push off when jumping to avoid the rocks protruding from a cliff face below, and Richard Farrell, the senior instructor, stood behind them and said he would push them to help their clearance.

Mr Farrell, 28, completed a demonstration jump, before five or six teenagers copied him. When it was Laura's turn, however, she appeared to change her mind at the last second, turning her body 90 degrees before losing her footing.

The instructor jumped in after her and performed first aid until an air ambulance arrived.

Mr Farrell, from Ringford, and Gareth Alcorn, from Coleraine, Northern Ireland, denied charges of failing to recognise the hazards involved and permitting and encouraging her to make the jump. Their not-guilty pleas were accepted by the Crown.

Ms Macguire said the use of the pool had pre-dated the Abernethy Trust taking over the site. She added the trust would never again use the pool and it had brought in stringent new regulations.

The trust admitted in court that its employees had allowed a person not in employment – namely Laura – to engage in gorge jumping with the result that she was seriously injured and died, contrary to the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974.

In a statement, Lorimer Gray, the chief executive of the trust, a charity based in Nethybridge, Inverness-shire, described Laura as "very much part of the Barcaple family" given her frequency of visits.

He said: "Until Laura's death, we had operated for 35 years without major incident or injury. We are determined to learn whatever lessons we can from her tragic death."

Mr Gray said more than 400,000 young people had taken part in Abernethy's adventure activities, and

added: "Everything has been done that is practically possible to prevent an accident like this happening again in the future."

Peter Higgins, professor of outdoor and environmental education at the University of Edinburgh, said: "As in all walks of life, accidents do occur on such programmes and very occasionally are fatal.

"The tragic death of Ms McDairmant is one such accident. The only appropriate course of action for the programme provider is to review its practices to ensure that such an accident will never happen again."

Marcus Bailie, of the Adventure Activities Licensing Service, the UK-wide independent inspection body run by the Health and Safety Executive, said: "No amount of regulation or inspection can prevent all accidents.

"Only completely banning all adventurous activities for young people could have an effect. However, there is a strong and widely held belief that the need for our young people to develop healthy lifestyles – physically, emotionally and socially – overwhelmingly outweighs the risk of harm associated with well-managed adventure activities."

He added: "We have inspected the Abernethy Trust centres on a regular basis since licensing was introduced in 1996. On each occasion, our inspectors have been satisfied they fulfil all the relevant statutory requirements."



BACKGROUND

THE Abernethy Trust is a registered charity that was founded in 1971 with the help of Norman Walker, who donated his family's 30-acre estate and buildings at Nethybridge in the Highlands to be turned into an outdoor centre for young Christians. The trust runs four adventure centres, with two in Ardgour and Nethybridge and one apiece in Barcaple, Galloway and Ardeonaig, Perthshire.

The non-profit making trust, run by chief executive Lorimer Gray, has welcomed 400,000 people through its residential centres since it was formed. Activities include abseiling, rock climbing, orienteering, windsurfing, and kayaking. Its centres have been regularly inspected since 1996 by the AALA, who have been satisfied that statutory requirements are being met. The trust's founding aim is to offer quality outdoor activity courses and holiday facilities mainly for young people, all within a "healthy and challenging Christian atmosphere".

Fearful time for every parent as youngsters learn to balance risk and adventure

IT is an unsettling worry for every parent – handing their children into the care of others to go on outward-bounds holidays and try potentially risky but exhilarating and character-building activities.

"Parents can be scared of relinquishing their protection over their child and passing them into your care," acknowledges Robb Wallace, a "canyon leader" with Splash White Water Rafting in Aberfeldy.

"That is why if they have particular concerns, we invite them to come along and have a go themselves. We show them the equipment – helmets, wetsuits, ropes – and brief them on the risks we have assessed.

"We never take clients of any age gorge jumping in an area that has not been blitzed by our risk inspectors."

With the focus on cutting risk yet facilitating adventure, the body responsible for supervising outdoor activity centres is the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA), an independent inspection body run by the Health and Safety Executive.

Its aim is to provide assurances to members of the public about the safety of those activity providers who have been granted a licence, and to ensure young people will be able to continue to enjoy stimulating activities outdoors without being exposed to avoidable risks of death or disabling injury.

The AALA monitors and inspects about 1,000 outdoor pursuit companies across the UK, including about 150 in Scotland.

The licensing authority was introduced in the wake of a kayaking accident in Lyme Bay, Dorset, which saw four teenagers drown in 1993. The subsequent trial led to the prosecution of the parent company and centre manager, and a conviction for corporate manslaughter. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, in the past 22 years 60 children and 10 adults from the UK have died on a school trip at home or abroad. The most common causes of death in these cases have been drowning and road accidents.

It is a legal requirement under the Activity Centres (Young Persons' Safety) Act 1995 for providers of certain adventure activities to undergo inspection of their safety management systems and become licensed. The licensing scheme only applies to those who offer activities to young people under the age of 18 and who operate these activities commercially.

Generally, licensing also only applies to activities when they are done in remote or isolated environments. For example, climbing on natural terrain requires a licence; climbing on a purpose-built climbing wall does not.

A licence is not required for voluntary associations offering activities to their members, such as Scout troops, schools and colleges offering activities only to their own pupils or students, and activities where youngsters are each accompanied by their parent or legally appointed guardian, not including teachers or youth leaders.

The licensable activities include the following events: rock climbing; abseiling; ice climbing; gorge walking; sea-level traversing; canoeing; kayaking; dragon boating; wave skiing; white-water rafting; improvised rafting; sailing; sailboarding; windsurfing; hillwalking; mountaineering; fell running; orienteering; pony trekking; off-road cycling; off-piste skiing; caving; pot-holing; and mine exploration.