Jewish school fined £30,000 after emergency mountain rescue

A Jewish school has been fined £30,000 after pupils had to be rescued from a 3,000-foot high mountain.

Gateshead Cheder admitted “mistakes were made” over a field trip in March 2020, in which a group of 13 boys were left stranded in treacherous icy conditions, with one pupil falling metres and hurting himself.

Organisers of the trip up Helvellyn in the Lake District, ignored calls not to ascend above the snow line, Newcastle Magistrates’ Court heard last week, with adults on the trip not trained to deal with the conditions – and students wearing school shoes or trainers.

Ascending the 3,117 foot summit, the group reportedly lost their way, ignoring passers-by telling them to turn around, with one teen falling and cutting himself, and another reportedly having ‘panicked’ and run off.

The group of boys and staff were eventually found by the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team in the dark, with the Sunderland-based school admitted health and safety breaches. It was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and last week fined £30,000. It was told to pay a victim surcharge and costs totalling nearly £5,000.

A school spokesman said: “The health and safety of our pupils and staff is always of the utmost importance.  We have clear and robust safety measures in place but, on this occasion we appreciate that mistakes were made. As such, we fully accept the Court’s judgement.  We have conducted a thorough investigation into what happened two years ago and have made a number improvements to our health and safety policy and practice. This includes a thorough review of our risk assessment policies and procedures.”

Stephen Garner of the HSE, said: “Those taking part in the trek that day were placed in serious danger and there was a clear failing by the school to adopt sensible precautions to ensure their safety.”

The Gateshead Cheder, which has 300 pupils, was classed as ‘inadequate’ by the school inspectorate Ofsted in December 2020.