Chelmsford school issues ‘profound apology’ to parents of Leo Latifi

A CHELMSFORD school has issued a “profound apology” to the parents of a nine-year-old boy who died after a changing room locker fell on him.

Leo Latifi was attending an after-school swimming lesson at Great Baddow High School in May 2019 when the 180cm, 188kg locker fell on him.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it had not been fixed to the wall properly and toppled as Leo and a friend climbed on the front of the unit.

Great Baddow High School was fined £16,700 and ordered to pay costs of £12,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court.

Following the sentencing, the school issued a “profound apology” to Leo’s parents and promising lessons had been learned.

A spokesman for Great Baddow High School said: “Nothing can compare with the irreparable loss suffered by Leo’s family in this case, and the school would like to take this opportunity to reiterate its profound apology to Leo’s parents and family.

“The school community has been deeply saddened by the tragic events of May 2019.

“The governing body and staff at the school, all of whom have endeavoured throughout their working lives to put the best of interests of children at the school at the very forefront of everything that they do, have been profoundly affected by this tragedy.

“We have endeavoured at all times to fully cooperate with the investigation, as was acknowledged by the judge, and to deal with these proceedings in a manner which is as responsible and constructive as possible, without causing any unnecessary delay or distress to Leo’s family.

“The thoughts of everyone at the school will always be on the immense loss that the Latifi family have suffered.”

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The HSE said the lockers, which had doors missing, stood prominently in the changing area and “provided a climbing frame” to the children.

One child was able to jump free but Leo did not.

The HSE said the locker had not been secured to the wall, despite the unit having fixing brackets fitted as part of its structure.

The court heard how several scenarios could have caused the unit to move including an adult stepping onto the lowest edge of the unit to pull at a bag stuck in a top-tier locker or to clean the top of the unit, according to the HSE.

In a statement after sentencing, the Latifi family said that “nothing can bring back our precious Leo” and the court case had been another very difficult time when they had to relive what happened on the “terrible day he died”.

They said: “Families must be sure that their children will be kept safe when they are at school, in the care of other adults and organisations.

“We can only hope that no-one else has to suffer what we have endured these past two years since our Leo lost his life, and if the prosecution makes other schools more alert to their responsibilities in looking after equipment that could put children at risk, then that is all we can ask for right now.”