Park escapes blame for boy's death

Nathan Louis was playing in the park with his friends in the shadow of a large oak tree. The boys were collecting branches to make tepees in Richmond Park.

But moments later the day turned to tragedy when 12-year-old Nathan was crushed by a falling branch.

His father and uncle tried desperately to free him as he lay trapped and bleeding. But the London Oratory School pupil died in hospital five hours later from multiple injuries.

An inquest in Fulham heard how the seven-metre branch had rotted down to the tree trunk. The oak had been identified in a park survey a year earlier as needing pruning to reduce the weight of its branches. However, the work was not done.

Senior tree consultant Dr Jeremy Barrell told the coroner's court the tree "clearly had a defect". But park manager Simon Richards said: "It wasn't identified to me as a safety risk at that time, and if it had been action would have been taken."

After the hearing, which recorded a verdict of accidental death, Nathan's family told of their anger.

His uncle Leonard Louis, an anaesthetist, said: "They should have prevented the incident."

He added: "I do not think it was the right verdict. We were looking for justice for my nephew."

Nathan's family also criticised the emergency services for taking an hour to arrive.

During the hearing, coroner Alison Thomson acknowledged there was a delay in an ambulance reaching Nathan, saying it had been due to conflicting reports about the best way to enter the park. But she said the severity of the injuries meant earlier intervention would not have increased his chances of survival.

Mr Richards was asked whether the accident could have been prevented if the pruning had been carried out. He said: "It is possible but I would not like to speculate.

"With hindsight we might have wished to have moved things on more rapidly but I think our processes were reasonable."

Jonathan Holvey, from the Health and Safety Executive, told the court there was "no defect" in the system used in the park to monitor the safety of trees. The coroner heard Nathan had been collecting branches with 10 friends in the Isabella plantation area of Richmond Park in May last year.

Witness Dervilla Mitchell told the court: "There was a sharp cracking sound and I knew it was a tree falling. I looked around to see where my children were.

"There was a child under the tree and people were trying to help get him out. His uncle and father were with him. He was bleeding around the mouth and a little around the ear and we were checking his breathing."

After treatment by paramedics, Nathan was flown to hospital by air ambulance but could not be saved.

The coroner told Nathan's family: "It is impossible not to go through the 'what ifs' but I do not think there is anything anyone else could have done at that time that would have changed the course of this very sad history."