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Rope swing death a 'shocking accident', coroner says

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The death of a 12-year-old girl after she was hit by a falling branch while playing on a rope swing was accidental, a coroner has ruled.

Brooke Wiggins died in November 2024 after a large tree branch snapped off and crushed her in Banstead, Surrey.

The inquest had heard Surrey County Council (SCC) failed to inspect the tree months earlier and had not carried out work that could have made inspecting safety issues easier.

But Assistant Coroner Ivor Collett dismissed criticism of the council, and said Brooke's death was a "shocking accident".

He said SCC, which was responsible for maintaining the tree, could not have reasonably been expected to do more to prevent what happened – "bearing in mind their duties and… and the public resources they have to manage".

He also pointed to "the huge number of trees" the council was responsible for.

The inquest previously heard the tree had been reviewed by the local authority in May 2022.

Removing ivy was recommended to "aid future inspection of the tree", which was found to have had a "crack" not visible from the ground after Brooke's death.

A re-inspection was scheduled for May 2024, but this did not take place because of prioritising other inspections, the inquest heard.

Collett said there was "no sound evidence" the re-inspection would have revealed the "dangerous crack or rope swing".

Terence Herbert, SCC's chief executive, said he extended his "sincere condolences" to Brooke's family and friends.

"We…. note the coroner's conclusion that this was a tragic accident," he said.

Brooke – who was just a few days away from her 13th birthday – died from blunt force trauma to the chest with traumatic asphyxia, said Collett.

When she got on the swing – which was a structure made from blue rope with a stick tied to the bottom to act as a seat – there was "very little or no warning" before there was a shaking noise as the branch above broke away and fell to the ground, he added.

It struck Brooke and trapped her beneath it "badly injured", the coroner said.

She was with two friends at the time, who tried unsuccessfully to lift the branch off her.

Two men from a nearby caravan park assisted them, and performed CPR until emergency services arrived.

She was pronounced dead at the scene just after 17:20 GMT on 9 November.

The inquest at South London Coroner's Court heard earlier a "pathway for avoiding Brooke's death" could have been putting up signs warning against rope swings.

Collett rejected this, and said "it is doubtful that vigorous children and teenagers would take much notice".

He ended the inquest by paying tribute to Brooke's family.

"They have provided a voice for her when she has been unable to speak for herself," said the coroner.

"Brooke was plainly a light that shone in their lives, and while that light shone far less than half as long as was its due, it clearly shone more than twice as brightly."

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The Papers: Original 'Labour leadership rivals circle' and 'Golden boys' on Baftas red carpet

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Chris Mason: Another crunch moment for Starmer as he pleads with Labour MPs not to topple him

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It feels like the prime minister has to give the speech of his life today.

Those within the Labour Party who want to see him succeed acknowledge that you can't change everything in one speech.

But it is clearly imperative for Sir Keir Starmer to try to calm down a party that is hurting and anxious.

Many Labour MPs have spent the weekend observing the politically scorched earth around them locally – their friends and colleagues in local and devolved government wiped out. There are fraught emotions and there is anger.

And for the last few days now there has been the drip, drip of revolt, with Labour MP after Labour MP coming out publicly to say Starmer has to go.

With every one, a little more of the prime minister's authority drains away.

Incidentally, don't underestimate what a big deal it is for any individual MP to go over the top and say their boss should go – not least because, for now at least, those that have done so are a tiny fraction of the total number of Labour MPs.

And it was his name up in lights as their leader when many of them won their seats for the first time, and often in parts of the country where Labour rarely if ever win. So to say now, out loud, that you think he is a dud is a big deal.

Wherever you look in the Labour Party right now there are knots of anxiety.

Firstly, there is anxiety in Downing Street, of course. They are acutely aware of what is at stake.

Secondly, there is anxiety among the potential challengers, weighing up if, when or whether to go for it. Timing can be everything: get it right, and the premiership can be yours. Get it wrong, and what might be your only chance to be prime minister is gone.

Thirdly, there is anxiety among the many, many Labour MPs keeping their heads down and who really don't want the prime minister to leave right now, nor for there to be a leadership contest.

Then there are those who would like Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham to be Labour's next leader and so don't want a contest right now – because he needs time to firstly find and then win a Westminster seat, having been blocked from standing in one just a few months ago.

So what happens after the speech tomorrow? How do Labour MPs react? Does Catherine West, the former minister who has said she is willing to challenge the prime minister to try to force a contest, decide to back down, or press ahead?

Does the prime minister manage to put people off challenging him, at least for now?

Or is there a flood of anguish that leaves his position untenable and tempts one of the challengers to go for it?

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, in particular, faces a massive call in the next couple of days. He has said he won't challenge Sir Keir, but is prepared to make his case if it becomes clear the prime minister is a goner.

So does he go for it, or not? Some who would like to see him replace Sir Keir think this might be his very best chance, before Burnham can get back to Westminster.

It is worth emphasising that it is not easy to dislodge a sitting prime minister who doesn't want to budge and, up until now at least, Sir Keir has given every indication he wants to stick around.

But what a moment he confronts and his party confronts.

The Labour Party is in a glum swirl right now, where no one can be certain what will happen next.

Whatever does – or doesn't – happen will have consequences for us all.

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Ailing Iran Nobel laureate given bail and hospital transfer

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Iranian human rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi has been transferred from jail to a Tehran hospital amid concern over her deteriorating health.

Iranian authorities granted Mohammadi "a sentence suspension on heavy bail", a foundation run by her family said on Sunday.

Last week Mohammadi's family and supporters warned she could die in prison after suffering two suspected heart attacks earlier this year.

Mohammadi, 54, was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her activism against female oppression in Iran and promoting human rights.

After pleas from her family for her to be transferred from prison, Mohammadi is "now at Tehran Pars Hospital to be treated by her own medical team", ​the Narges Mohammadi Foundation said in a statement.

She had spent 10 days hospitalised in Zanjan in northern Iran, where she had been serving her sentence.

Mohammadi's Paris-based husband said "she is not in a favourable general condition" and that "her status remains unstable", in a statement over the weekend.

The activist is believed to have lost about 20kg (three stone) while in prison, and has difficulty speaking and is barely recognisable, according to her lawyer Chirinne Ardakani.

In 2021, Mohammadi began serving a 13-year sentence on charges of committing "propaganda activity against the state" and "collusion against state security", which she denied.

In December 2024, she was given a temporary release from Tehran's notorious Evin prison on medical grounds.

Mohammadi was arrested last December for making "provocative remarks" at a memorial ceremony, Iranian authorities said at the time. Her family said she was taken to hospital after being beaten during the arrest.

In early February, Mohammadi was sentenced by a Revolutionary Court to an additional seven-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of "gathering and collusion" and "propaganda activities", her lawyer said.

Last month, Mohammadi's brother Hamidreza said his sister had been found unconscious by fellow inmates at Zanjan prison after suffering a suspected heart attack.

The foundation's statement on Sunday said "a suspension is not enough" and that the human rights activist requires "permanent, specialised care".

"We must ensure she never returns to prison to face the 18 years remaining on her sentence," it read.

"Now is the time to demand her unconditional freedom and the dismissal of all charges. No human and women's rights activists should ever be imprisoned for their peaceful work," it said.

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