Conviction overturned in 'important' safety case

James Porter, 66, was ordered to pay £20,000 in fines and legal costs last September at Mold Crown Court following the death of pupil Kian Williams in August 2004.

Porter had been found guilty by a jury of breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. However, three judges in the Court of Appeal in London today ruled that his conviction was "unsafe".

Three-year-old Kian jumped down a flight of steps in a playground at Hillgrove private school in Bangor, Gwynedd and lost his footing. Although he broke no bones, he suffered swelling to the brain and died five weeks later from an MRSA strain of pneumonia. An inquest into Kian's death in February 2005 recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Porter today heard Lord Justice Moses, Mr Justice Openshaw and Sir Richard Curtis overturn his conviction, which his lawyer later described as a "common sense judgement".

Lord Justice Moses, who described the incident as a "terrible tragedy" ruled: "In our view the evidence in this case was all one way. There was no evidence on which a jury, properly directed, could reasonably conclude that this child was exposed to risk by the conduct of the school."

Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.”

'Exemplary record'

Lord Justice Moses said there was no evidence of risk other than the risk that everyday a child might go unsupervised down a flight of stairs.

He said: "Our jurisdiction is limited to decide upon the safety of the verdict. We have come to the conclusion that the verdict was unsafe."

Lord Justice Moses pointed out: "In the 29 years before this accident, during which this appellant and his wife ran the school, there had never been any complaints about standards of health or safety..."

He added there had never been an accident on the steps in question, despite the fact that countless children must have gone up and down them unsupervised.

After the hearing Porter's solicitor Steffan Groch, of law firm DWP, said: "Mr Porter and his wife Sylvia have run Hillgrove School for over 30 years during which time they have achieved the highest standards of care and an exemplary safety record.

"While their sympathies are very much with Kian's family, they feel the judgement has vindicated their own position and also struck a blow for the teaching profession, which would have faced an almost impossible burden had the conviction remained."

Mr Groch added that he believed the case was important in defining the health and safety standards that teachers and employers in general needed to satisfy.