A girl of six was playing ballerinas when she was crushed by a decaying tree that a council failed to cut down in a schoolyard.
Ella Henderson's heartbroken parents expected her to be safe when they dropped her off that fateful morning, a court heard today.
Instead, a large section of a rotted willow tree crashed onto Ella and her friends as they played in 32 mph winds just before lunchtime on September 25, 2020.
The other children were able to scramble out from under the tree without serious injury. But the heaviest section fell directly onto Ella, South Tyneside magistrates court was told.
Despite the quick intervention of emergency services, she died the following day in hospital. Newcastle City Council was contracted by the city's Gosforth Park First School to maintain trees on its premises.
The council admitted failing to ensure the safety of Ella and others under the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £280,000, with £8,201 in costs.
Prosecuting on behalf of the HSE, James Towey said school staff could not remove the tree's heaviest section from Ella.
Inspected by a council team in February 2018, the need for "further investigation" was identified. But it was not properly carried out. On behalf of Newcastle City Council, Ben Compton KC offered an unreserved apology to Ella's family.
All trees on council land are now given a safety category which is "effectively a risk assessment". Ella's parents Neil and Vikki broke down when their victim impact statement was read in court as they listened via video link.
"She was just playing ballerinas with her friends," her mother said.
"Life is so unfair, she had so much to give this world."
She added: "Having a six-year-old who loves life and wakes up every morning with ‘What are we doing today, Mummy?’, loving everything we did and everywhere we went, to suddenly this life, is just indescribable."
Ella's family raised £30,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance Service, which responded to the emergency.
District Judge Zoe Passfield said one examination of the willow tree by the council team had lasted just one minute.
She told Ella's parents: "I am sure I was not the only person in this courtroom who was visibly moved on hearing your profound statement about the loss of your daughter."
After the case, they said: “We are devastated beyond words to hear the number of times this outcome should have been changed. No family should ever have to go through what we are going through.
"We hope lessons will be learned."
Newcastle City Council chief executive Pam Smith described Ella's death as a devastating tragedy.
"Our hearts go out to her family and friends," she said. “Whilst we take our health and safety responsibilities very seriously, we fully accept that there were failings in our processes.
"That is why we have taken the opportunity to plead guilty to the offence at the first available opportunity. We note the Judge’s comments and fully accept the sentence of the court.
"Immediately following the incident, we reviewed our processes and have put in place new procedures to prevent something like this from ever happening again.
"We would like to offer our sincere and profound condolences and apologise unreservedly to Ella’s family for their unimaginable loss."
