Inquest into death of Brooke Wiggins hears “lack of public awareness” around dangers of rope swings
12 May 2026
Garden Court North’s Christian Weaver represented Brooke’s father, Mr Lee Wiggins, during the inquest at South London Coroner’s Court (pictured). Credit: Glen Berlin / Shutterstock.
An inquest into the tragic death of Brooke Wiggins has heard there was a “lack of public awareness” around the dangers of rope swings, after the 12-year-old girl suffered fatal crush injuries when a tree branch snapped and fell onto her as she played on a rope swing in Banstead, Surrey.
Following the inquest, which lasted three days at South London Coroner’s Court, Assistant Coroner Ivor Collett recorded a conclusion of accidental death.
Brooke had been playing with friends on the rope swing attached to a 20-metre high beech tree, located on a bridleway on public land when the incident happened on 9 November, 2024.
Rope swing should have been removed “as per policy”
The inquest heard that this public land is owned and managed by Surrey County Council, which had a policy of removing rope swings within seven days of being alerted to them.
The tree had last been inspected in 2022, but was scheduled for another inspection in May 2024, which never took place. Representing Brooke’s father Lee Wiggins, Garden Court North’s Christian Weaver asked Surrey County Council officials whether, in the event that an inspection had been carried out, the rope swing would have been removed “as per policy”.
Work to remove ivy which had grown around the tree – which had limited an inspection of branches in May 2022 – did not happen either, despite the removal of the ivy being recommended within 12 months.
The Coroner said he felt that Surrey County Council had “reasonable systems in place” and said that it “could not reasonably be expected to have done more in a way which would have prevented this terrible accident”.
He said he accepted that tree inspection schedules don’t have the “same statutory territory as highway inspection regimes” and have to be “prioritised” and “flexible” due to the resources available, and the huge number of trees involved.
He said he was not convinced that warnings about the risks posed by unauthorised rope swings would have prevented the accident which led to Brooke’s death, deciding not to issue a Prevention of Future Deaths report.
“Heartbreaking, avoidable loss”
Lee Wiggins believes his daughter’s death could have been avoided.
Speaking after the inquest had concluded, he said: “I fear the opportunity may be missed to highlight this danger to the wider public, which a Prevention of Future deaths report could have helped with. Surrey County Council has pledged to do more now to make people aware, but what about other authorities?”
“There needs to be a proper public awareness campaign about the dangers of rope swings. It’s about giving people the information they need to make safe choices. Brooke was 12 years old and would never for a second thought she was risking her life.”
“I fully believe that Brooke’s death could have been avoided had people at the council done their jobs properly, and taken more care to fulfil their duty to ensure public safety. I just hope and pray that Brooke’s death has raised awareness of the dangers so that no other families have to go through the tragic, heartbreaking, avoidable loss we now have to live with.”
“Brooke was an amazing young woman whose smile and laughter could light up any room she was in. She was bright and very funny; it was infectious. The more time you spent with Brooke the more she would be smiling.”
“I am absolutely devastated that my baby girl has been taken from me. She packed so much into her short life.”
Lorna Benson of Hudgell Solicitors, who instructed Christian to represent Mr Wiggins, said: “Had the scheduled inspection taken place in May 2024, and the rope swing been on the tree at that time, it would have been removed”.
“However, as the inspection didn’t happen, the council had no idea how long it had been there at the time of Brooke’s death – other than that it was not on the tree in 2022. The evidence presented to the Inquest demonstrated that the council deemed rope swings to be dangerous, and as such have a policy to remove them within seven days of being identified.”
“It was also evidenced that rope swings were not a rare occurrence, with around 15 removed each year. However, it adopted a flawed approach in that, due to the huge scale of its estates, it relied heavily on the public to report rope swings. It was a flawed approach because, as the evidence of the Inquest demonstrated, the risk posed was not one generally recognised by members of the public, by both adults and children alike.”
Additional media
Hudgell Solicitors – Inquest hears tributes to Brooke Wiggins, 12, who died when a tree branch fell on her
BBC News – Rope swing death a ‘shocking accident’, coroner says
The Mirror – Ninety minutes of horror after girl, 12, crushed to death playing on rope swing
For further information, please contact Alex Blair, Communications Manager at Garden Court North Chambers: ablair@gcnchambers.co.uk
