Turan Hursit represented the bereaved family of Benedict Blythe in the inquest into his death at Peterborough Coroner’s Court, led by Jeremy Hyam KC of 1 Crown Office Row Chambers. Turan previously also acted in a number of pre-inquest review hearings in the matter. She was instructed by Michelle Victor, Angela Bruno, Ella Raeburn, and Grete Labunski of Leigh Day Solicitors.
Benedict was a 5-year-old child who suffered from severe allergies, including an allergy to cow’s milk protein. He could consume only alternative milks and was ordinarily given oat milk during break time at school. On 1st December 2021, Benedict suffered food-induced anaphylaxis whilst at school. By the time adrenaline auto-injectors were administered, he was already in cardiac arrest. Shortly thereafter, he tragically passed away. The inquest into his death investigated how he came about his death.
A jury heard from 10 live witnesses over 6 days of oral evidence. The witnesses included Benedict’s mother, teaching staff, a doctor, a representative from a food company, a representative from the Department for Education, and two experts.
The jury heard that Benedict’s oat milk was stored in the same fridge as lactose-free milk (containing cow’s milk protein) which would be given to another child. Usually, the agreed process for Benedict’s oat milk was to take the milk from the carton in the staff fridge, where it was stored, pour it into Benedict’s cup in the classroom, and hand it to him. The evidence given at the inquest was that on the day of Benedict’s death, the milk was poured in the staffroom and then taken to the classroom.
The jury heard evidence that after break time, Benedict vomited on at least two occasions, had redness above his lip, and asked for his inhaler. He eventually collapsed. Adrenaline was administered on two occasions and CPR was attempted. This was unsuccessful and Benedict was taken to hospital, where he tragically passed away.
The jury found that Benedict’s death was caused by accidental exposure to an allergen and that the probable source of the allergen was cow’s milk protein, most probably from Benedict’s own receptacle during break time. Amongst the factors that probably caused Benedict’s death were “a missed opportunity to review lessons learned” following a previous anaphylactic reaction at school in October 2021, Benedict’s allergy plan “not [being] shared and distributed to teaching staff”, “opportunities for cross-contamination or mix-up of milk” on the day of the material events, and “delayed administration of an adrenaline auto-injector”.
Benedict’s family are currently campaigning for the passage of a Schools (Allergy Safety) Bill (‘Benedict’s Law’).
The inquest was widely reported on in the national media, including in the BBC, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Mirror, ITV, Sky News, The Peterborough Telegraph, The Hunts Post, The Cambs Times, Lincsonline, and Wales Online.
