Police rapped over dugout death

The scene of the wall collapse in which Kirsty died

The parents of a girl who died when a football dugout collapsed have slammed police over the inquiry into her death.

Kirsty McSweeney, 15, of East Ardsley, West Yorkshire, died instantly when a concrete slab fell on her.

An inquest heard that the dugout had been vandalised but police had not been able to trace those responsible.

After a verdict of accidental death, Amanda McSweeney and Kirsty's father, Peter Denne said they had been "totally let down" by West Yorkshire Police.

No witnesses

The two-day inquest at Leeds Coroner's Court heard that Kirsty, a pupil at Rodillian School in Lofthouse, went to the field with a friend on 14 April and climbed on to the dugout, which then collapsed.

Local residents told the hearing they had noticed damage to the structure in the four days before the accident, although no witnesses to any vandalism were traced.

Three youths were later arrested in connection with the incident but charges were never brought due to lack of evidence.

The coroner, David Hinchliff, put it to police that they had faced a "conspiracy of silence" from the local community.

We may never get full answers to all of the questions we have in relation to our daughter's death Statement by Kirsty's parents

Det Ch Insp David Oldroyd said: "I'm convinced that someone must have seen the damage occurring. There were people who could have helped us more in this case but I could never prove this."

He also admitted that mistakes had been made in allowing a second dugout at the site to be demolished before council officials could inspect it.

Kirsty's parents said afterwards it was "utterly remarkable that nobody has been able to provide us with a satisfactory explanation as to why the dugouts were demolished".

They added: "There did not seem to be any proper procedures in place as to who retained overall responsibility for managing the situation and ensuring that potentially vital evidence was preserved.

"The investigation was flawed from the beginning. Regrettably, because of these significant shortcomings, we may never get full answers to all of the questions we have in relation to our daughter's death."