A mum whose teenage son died on a Scout trip in 2018 has called for a public inquiry into the youth organisation.

Ben Leonard from Stockport, Greater Manchester, died after falling 60m (200ft) off a cliff in North Wales.

The 16-year-old suffered a serious head injury at the Great Orme in Llandudno on 26 August 2018.

A two-month inquest into his death, which concluded last month, found Ben was unlawfully killed.

His mother Jackie has launched a petition calling for a public inquiry – along with the families of Lee Craddock, Scott Fanning and Roy Thornton – who died on Scout trips in the late 1990s.

In the petition, Ms Leonard says the boys’ deaths were “avoidable if correct procedures had been followed by the leaders they were with”.

“Change needs to happen to stop more children from dying,” she added.

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The hearings at Manchester Civil Courts of Justice heard Ben and two friends took a different path to their peers and that Scout leaders had lost the trio.

This was the third inquest into Ben’s death after the first two were aborted.

The start of the most recent inquest saw The Scout Association accept responsibility for his death for the first time.

A coroner has referred the organisation and the employee, who cannot be named due to a court order, to North Wales Police for investigation for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

A Scout Association spokesperson told Sky News: “Keeping young people safe is our top priority.

“We look closely at all incidents to ensure we are creating the safest possible environments for the thousands of young people who take part in Scouts every year.

“We are closely reviewing the coroner’s recommendations and will adopt all further changes we can to prevent such a tragic event happening again.”

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