Headteacher fined over dead child
Updated on 28 September 2007
A headteacher has been ordered to pay £20,000 in fines and legal costs after a three-year-old boy fell down steps at his school.
Kian Williams, of Bethesda, described by teachers in court as "lively and energetic", died in August 2004 after jumping down four steps while pretending to be Batman.
He had been playing in an out of bounds area at Hillgrove private school in Bangor, Gwynedd. An inquest into Kian's death in February 2005 recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Although he broke no bones during the accident, Kian suffered swelling to the brain and later died in Alder Hey Children's Hospital, from a MRSA strain of pneumonia.
Earlier this year, headteacher James Porter was found guilty by an 11-1 majority jury verdict of failing to do enough to make the school steps safe, breaching health and safety rules.
Prosecuted in his role as proprietor of the school, Porter was fined £12,500 at Mold Crown Court on Friday and also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £7,500.
Porter, who has owned and run the private school for more than 30 years, was described in court during the trial as having an exemplary safety record.
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