Safeguards ‘non-existent’ when kickboxer, 15, died

A 15-year-old three-time world kickboxing champion died from a severe traumatic brain injury after an unsanctioned fight which had no safeguards, a coroner has ruled.

Alex Eastwood suddenly collapsed after the charity bout in Wigan against a 17-year-old opponent and died three days later, on 29 June last year.

Coroner Michael Pemberton said the fight was unsanctioned and the safeguards that were meant to exist “simply didn’t”. He described the regulation of kickboxing as “chaotic and disjointed”.

Alex’s family said the inquest had made clear his death was “not a tragic accident”, but was “a failure of safeguarding and regulation”.

Mr Pemberton, who returned a finding of misadventure, had already taken the unusual step of writing a Prevention of Future Death Report airing his concerns about a lack of regulatory guidance in terms of any child combat sports.

He said: “During the course of this hearing the evidence has reflected a chaotic and somewhat disjointed approach in which I’m not satisfied participants or parents are made fully aware of the risks that may ensue.”

Alex, who had just finished his GCSEs, fought three rounds at the TKMA Gym before becoming seriously unwell.

The coroner said emergency services had done everything they could to try to save Alex.

The coroner addressed the boy’s parents who were in court, saying: “The circumstances of this tragic case have left many numb.

“I’m sure there will be an encore of issues to seek changes on as part of his legacy.”

Mr Pemberton referred to the lack of pre-bout meeting between the fighters, referee and coaches to lay down the “ground rules” for the bout.

He said: “The planning of the event and lack of risk assessment was sub-optimal in this regard.”

Outside the hearing, Alex’s step-mother Nikita Eastwood said: “No child should go into a gym to do something they love and not come home.

“What happened to him was not just a tragic accident – the inquest has made clear to us that it was a failure of safeguarding, of responsibility, and of regulation.

“Alex died after a fight that we now see should never have happened.”

She added: “There was no national governing body involvement, and no clear or enforced safety standards.

“His death must be a line in the sand so that these failures change.

“We urge those in power to act swiftly and decisively to prevent the risk of this happening to another child. There must be clear, enforceable, national protections for children in combat sports.”