Ben Leonard: Scout leader bids to reverse unlawful killing ruling

Oliver Campbell, representing Mr Glaister, said “there was no evidence on which the jury could properly come to the conclusion that Ben Leonard was unlawfully killed”.

He said the coroner’s decision to allow the jury to make a finding of unlawful killing was “irrational and unlawful”.

There was no evidence that at the time Mr Glaister would have been aware of “an immediate, striking and glaring risk of death”, he said.

“He simply had no idea that they had gone into a situation of danger,” he added.

Mr Dilworth said “the general culture within the Explorer wing of the Scout movement encouraged autonomy and did not require constant supervision of Explorers”.

He said it was “not within her knowledge and it’s not within [Ms Carr’s] foresight” that the three boys would go close to the cliff edge.

“It is only through the ‘retrospectoscope’ that one starts to criticise and seek to add to the information that was available to Ms Carr,” he added.

The hearing continues.