Legal News
12-year-old killed in school accident after wall collapses (2 April 2014)
Date: 02/04/2014
A 12-year-old girl from Edinburgh has died after a wall in a school changing room collapsed on top of her.
Keane Wallis-Bennett was in her first year at Liberton High School in Edinburgh.
Emergency services were called to the school a little before 10am on Tuesday (01/04/14), but ambulance crews were unable to save Keane, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
It is reported that the school’s safety record and practices are being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The school is to remain shut for the rest of the week and until after the Easter break, although pupils sitting exams are being offered counselling and support.
Head of schools at Edinburgh City Council, Andy Gray, said:
"It is obviously a very distressing time for all the pupils, staff and the community of Liberton High School.
"We are offering welfare support to anyone who needs it."
Some parents whose children attend Liberton High School said they received text messages from staff asking them to collect their children from school after the incident.
Edinburgh County Council is now working with the HSE to discover the cause of the interior wall collapse – and a full survey of the school will be carried out in the next few days.
A spokesman for the council said:
“Police investigations are ongoing – however, we understand that the wall that collapsed was a free standing modesty wall in a changing room.
“A full survey of all our schools – including Liberton High School – was carried out in 2012-2013 and no concerns with this wall were identified.
“However, as a precaution, specialist council building services staff will be surveying all similar walls in schools where we know that they exist.”
Liberton High School has previously been at the centre of health and safety concerns – in February, Edinburgh City Council was fined £8,000 for serious safety failings at the school, involving a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was trapped in a broken lift. When staff tried to free her, she was seriously injured after plunging 16 feet down the lift shaft.
Police in Scotland have confirmed that officers are working with the HSE to investigate the cause of the wall collapse.
Following the wall collapse on Tuesday, Superintendent Matt Richards of Police Scotland said:
“Enquiries now continue with partners from the Health and Safety Executive – and also alongside the council – in order to ensure we get to the bottom of what has happened.”
Edinburgh councillor Nick Cook – who represents the Liberton/Gilmerton ward – said:
"Our thoughts are first and foremost with the family – but serious questions need to be asked as to how this incident managed to come about."
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