Death of girl, 12 killed by falling tree branch was accidental, coroner rules

Brooke Wiggins died after falling from a rope swing

The death of a 12-year-old girl who was killed after being hit by a falling branch while playing on a rope swing has been ruled an accident in court.

Brooke Wiggins died days before she turned 13 on November 9, 2024, after she fell from a rope swing in Banstead, Surrey. South London Coroner’s Court heard how a large branch suddenly snapped before landing on the youngster.

Assistant coroner Ivor Collett said Surrey County Council, which was responsible for maintaining the tree, had been criticised over how it inspected the safety of trees, but concluded it could not have reasonably been expected to do more to prevent it from happening. Mr Collett said: “I see what happened on the awful day of Brooke’s death as an accident which was not readily foreseeable by either of the local authorities involved.

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“I find that they, and Surrey County Council in particular, had reasonable systems in place. Bearing in mind their duties and the risks and the public resources they have to manage, they could not reasonably be expected to have done more in a way which would have prevented this terrible accident.”

The inquest previously heard the tree had been reviewed by Surrey County Council in May 2022. Following the inspection, there was a recommendation to remove ivy covering it to “aid future inspection” of the tree, which, after Brooke’s death, was revealed to have had a “crack” not visible from ground level.

A re-inspection was scheduled for May 2024, but this did not take place because of prioritising other inspections, the inquest heard. The coroner told the inquest on Wednesday, May 6, that there was “no sound evidence that a re-inspection by May 2024 would have revealed either a dangerous crack or a rope swing”.

Mr Collett said: “A criticism made in this case of Surrey County Council has been that its inspection regime was deficient. However, I do not make that finding.

“I accept the need to prioritise tree inspection works. This is not the same statutory territory as highway inspection regimes, it is far more nuanced and must be far more reactive and flexible, especially given the resources available and the huge number of trees involved in the Surrey CC estate.”

The inquest previously heard that a “pathway for avoiding Brooke’s death” was for the erection of advisory notices between May 2022 and May 2024 warning against rope swings.

Mr Collett rejected this in his conclusions because there was a lack of evidence that a rope swing would have been discovered in that period and “it is doubtful that vigorous children and teenagers would take much notice of warning signs”.

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The assistant coroner told the inquest that a Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) report was “not warranted” as “there is a sufficient system already in place”. Mr Collett ended the inquest by paying tribute to Brooke’s family.

He said: “They have provided a voice for her when she has been unable to speak for herself.

“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.”