I tried to pull the rubble off Keane, says a schoolfriend
‘I saw the panic in their faces’
A GIRL who saw her schoolmate crushed to death under a wall fought frantically to free her from the rubble, an inquiry heard yesterday.
The harrowing account from the pupil, 15 at the time, was read to Edinburgh Sheriff Court on the second day of a fatal accident inquiry into the death of Keane Wallis-Bennett, 12.
Keane died when a freestanding ‘modesty wall’ in the changing rooms of the city’s Liberton High School collapsed on her as she got ready for PE in April 2014.
Her tearful mother Abbie Wallis, 37, and father Clarke Bennett, 50, heard repeated graphic accounts yesterday of the panic among teachers and pupils.
In statements, they also heard evidence that other pupils had been too scared to go near the wall because they had seen it move previously. The 15-year-old who tried to help Keane said: ‘The wall was a bit shaky and had been like that since I started school.’
After she saw it move once she said she avoided going near it, adding: ‘I was frightened by what had happened.’
The same girl was present when the wall collapsed on Keane and she helped a PE teacher try to save the schoolgirl by pulling her from the debris.
In the statement, read by procurator fiscal depute Gary Aitken, the teenager recalled: ‘When the wall fell, they were screaming. There was a pile of rubble. I helped to lift the rubble off.’
PE teacher Kerry Sweeney, 27, said: ‘I heard a bang coming from the girls’ changing room. I saw from the panic in their faces that something had happened.’
Entering, she ‘looked down to the left and saw a pair of legs. I couldn’t see her face or head – this was completely covered by concrete’.
Others joined in to help. ‘There was a lot of blood. Her hair was matted across her face. Miss Sweeney added: ‘I could only hear a weak gurgle.’
Miss Sweeney said the ‘one metre square’ block on top of Keane had crushed her upper body. ‘I was try- ing to lift it with my hands but it was so heavy,’ she said.
Keane’s mother Abbie was reduced to tears by a statement from PE curricular leader Stuart Robertson, 37. He said: ‘I couldn’t quite make sense of what I was seeing. I could see there was a person on the floor. I couldn’t see blood but from the reactions of the people there and what I saw I knew we needed an ambulance.’ A nurse tried to resuscitate Keane. Mr Robertson added: ‘I could see blood around her head. She was lying with her mouth open.’
The inquiry heard accounts from other pupils who said the wall had a crack in it before it collapsed.
One who felt it move had helped grab ‘the ends to stop it falling’.
They alleged that a fissure ‘big enough to put a pen into’ had appeared, but when they told a teacher, the alleged response was, ‘Oh no, it’s fine’.
The inquiry further heard that council contractor Morris & Spottiswood had provided a £271,000 quote to remove the wall.
Quantity surveyor Martyn Duffy said the plans in 2013 were dropped and a smaller quote for less work was accepted. Senior contract manager David Cochrane said: ‘It would be the council who made that decision, I think.’
The inquiry before sheriff principal Mhairi Stephen, QC, is due to run until the end of next week.