Fatal school fall 'accidental'

Kian Williams had been at the school for two terms

An inquest jury has returned a verdict of accidental death on a three-year-old boy who died after falling at school.

They heard Kian Williams had banged his head after jumping down four steps because "he thought he was Batman".

The initial head injury from his fall in the playground of Hillgrove School, Bangor, had been relatively trivial.

But he died of pneumonia in hospital more than a month later, after also contracting the superbug MRSA.

The inquest at Caernarfon, north Wales, heard Kian was found crying at the base of the steps the private school at playtime in July 2004.

"That's where he jumped, he thought he was Batman." School pupil

The court heard that Kian must have wandered off from the playground to the steps, unseen by a teacher looking after between 40 and 50 pupils on their break.

He taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor. He was then transferred to an intensive care unit at Alder Hey, where he died five weeks later.

Detective Constable Ian Burns told jurors that he had visited the school and had spoken to a five-year-old girl about the fatal incident.

He said the girl had indicated that Kian had jumped from the fourth step.

He said the girl told him: "That's where he jumped, he thought he was Batman."

Paediatric pathologist Dr Michael Ashworth said the initial head injury had been relatively trivial.

Kian had attended Hillgrove School, Bangor

There had been no fracture to Kian's skull but his brain started to swell and by the time of his death he was described as severely brain damaged.

Dr Ashworth said the imediate cause of death was pneumonia and he confirmed that Kian had contracted the superbug MRSA while at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool.

But he told the hearing that the nature of Kian's injury meant he would have developed other infections which also would have proved fatal.

Coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones said a chain of events had led to his death - the bump on his head, swelling of the brain, destruction of the nerve ends, then the infection.

The matter of whether Kian should have contracted MRSA or not was being dealt with elsewhere, he said.

Gates have now been placed by the steps at the private school, which caters for childen aged three to 16. Kian had been at the school for two terms at the time of the accident.

Speaking at the time of the incident, headteacher James Porter said he was "devastated". He described Kian as "a very lively and enthusiastic boy" who had settled in well at the school.