The "unstable nature" of a freestanding masonry wall has been blamed for the death of a pupil at Liberton High School three years ago.

Keane Wallis-Bennet, who was 12-years-old and in her first year at secondary school, was killed when the wall collapsed on top of her in the shower area of the school's changing rooms on 01 April 2014.

A fatal accident inquiry set up to determine the cause of the incident has determined the "unstable nature of the wall" as the real cause of the accident, and not the actions of anyone else.

In her determination, Sherif principal Mhairi Stephen stated: "Keane died of multiple injuries due to the collapse of the brick wall. The immediate cause of the wall collapsing was the application of a lateral force to the wall sufficient to push it beyond its tipping point.

It is probable that the activities of other pupils who were braced between the freestanding

"privacy wall" and the shower wall was sufficient to cause the wall to move beyond the tipping point. The lateral force generated by the innocent high- spirited behaviour of those pupils could push it past its tipping point due to the wall being inherently unstable and liable to sudden collapse.

"The unstable nature of the wall was the real cause of the accident. That instability was caused by the alignment of two main factors: firstly, the design and construction of the wall and secondly, due to the wall being cracked along its horizontal plane.

-- Advertisement --

"The wall separated close to its base and had been cracked at the separation plane for a long period of time prior to 1 April 2014. This internal defect or cracking would not be obvious on visual inspection."

She concluded: "The actions of pupils over many years many have unwittingly contributed to this inherently unstable painted monolith cracking. No pupil should shoulder any responsibility or burden whatsoever in the wake of what happened. Perhaps the most positive and useful outcome of this Inquiry is to inform and warn of the risks from free standing masonry walls.

"This will reinforce the measures taken in 2014 by HSE in conjunction with the Scottish Government and the Standing Committee on Structural Safety (SCOSS) to promote rigorous inspection of such walls with a view to consideration being given to remedial strengthening measures and where appropriate removal of such walls. In both the public and private domain steps ought to be taken to assess the risk of the continued use of such walls in light of this tragedy."

In response to the inquiry's determination, Alistair Gaw, The City of Edinburgh Council's Executive Director of Communities and Families, said: "Once again on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council I want to express our deepest sympathies to Keane’s family for their tragic loss.

"Having now received the determination from Sheriff Principal Mhairi Stephen we note her conclusion that there were no reasonable precautions that could have been taken to avoid the accident which resulted in Keane’s death.

"She further finds that the maintenance and inspection regime at Liberton High School complied with statutory requirements and that there was a comprehensive understanding of the fault reporting system among staff.

"The determination also states that the Council had taken all reasonably practicable measures to ensure that the wall was inspected and maintained.

"We note the recommendation regarding the potential risks from free standing walls. Immediately after the incident in 2014 the Council removed similar free standing walls in its schools and subsequently safety advice was issued by the Scottish Government advising all local authorities of the risks regarding these walls.

"Our overriding priority is always the safety of pupils and staff and we want to ensure nothing like this tragic event ever happens again.

(LM)