The death of a 12-year-old girl who was hit by a falling tree branch while playing on a rope swing has been ruled accidental by a coroner.
Brooke Wiggins died days before her 13th birthday on 9 November 2024, in Banstead, Surrey. South London Coroner's Court heard how a large branch suddenly snapped and fell onto the youngster.
Assistant coroner Ivor Collett said Surrey County Council, which was responsible for maintaining the tree, had reasonable systems in place and could not reasonably have been expected to do more to prevent the tragedy. He described the incident as an accident which was not readily foreseeable by either of the local authorities involved.
The inquest previously heard the tree had been inspected in May 2022, with a recommendation to remove ivy to aid future inspection. A re-inspection was scheduled for May 2024 but did not take place because of prioritising other inspections. However, Mr Collett said there was no sound evidence that a re-inspection would have revealed either a dangerous crack or the rope swing.
He rejected criticism that the council's inspection regime was deficient, and also dismissed the suggestion that advisory notices warning against rope swings should have been erected, saying it was doubtful that vigorous children and teenagers would take much notice. He concluded that a Prevention of Future Deaths report was not warranted.
Paying tribute to Brooke's family, Mr Collett said they had provided a voice for her, adding: "Brooke was plainly a light that shone in their lives, and while that light shone far less than half as long as was its due, it clearly shone more than twice as brightly."
