Schoolgirl tells Keane FAI: I leaned against wall and it fell down
GETTY Keane Wallis-Bennett was killed after a wall collapsed at her school
The girl also said that she felt “scared” to talk to police when they questioned her about the tragic accident the following day. Keane Wallis-Bennett, 12, died when a modesty wall in the PE block at Liberton High School in Edinburgh collapsed on her in April, 2014. The investigation is being held at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to examine the full circumstances surrounding the incident.
Two schoolgirls who were in the changing-room at the time were yesterday called to give evidence. One of the girls – neither of whom can be named for legal reasons – told the hearing that she was changing in the shower area for football at PE, the second lesson of the day, when the incident happened. Giving evidence via a video link, the teenager said: “Me and (another girl) were sort of mucking about, having a laugh and we just sort of had our feet on the opposite wall, it was only for a couple of seconds.
NC A teenager has told an FAI that she was leaning on the wall when it collapsed
It was only a couple of seconds because it went by so quickly Witness
“Then, I can’t actually remember what happened after because all I remember was the wall falling back.” The witness then demonstrated how her back had been on the wall that fell down, with her feet on an opposite wall. She said: “I was facing the shower wall, so I leaned on the wall that fell down.” The witness also told the FAI she did not need to climb up to get into that position. The girl said: “It wasn’t like that big a gap.”
She added that she fell with the wall when it collapsed and she had to get herself back on her feet. Asked if she had been pushing back towards the wall she was leaning on, she replied: “No, I think I was just trying to keep myself up. “It was only a couple of seconds because it went by so quickly... maybe two or three seconds.” The witness said that was the first time they had ever done something like that and said she had never seen anyone else doing so.
NC The girl said her and a friend only had their feet on the wall for a few seconds
She said the pupils were all in “shock” following the incident. The inquiry heard the girl was spoken to by police the following day. Asked whether she had told them everything she knew, she replied: “No, I was scared and didn’t know what to do.”