School fined £300,000 for the death of a student who had 'everything to live for'

A school has been fined £300,000 for a series of management failures that led to the death of a 19-year-old student in Warwickshire.

Owen Garnett was a sixth form student in Stratford-upon-Avon who died two days after choking on a paper towel at Welcombe Hills School on 9 January 2023.

Owen had been diagnosed with Pica - a potentially life-threatening eating disorder where sufferers have a compulsion to eat things which have no nutritional value.

In January 2023, Owen was unsupervised in the playground during a breaktime but found his way back into school. Minutes later he was found inside choking.

Unity Multi Academy Trust, which Welcombe Hills School belongs to, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. They were fined £300,000 and ordered to pay £10,750 in costs at Coventry Magistrates Court on 18 December 2024.

He was described by his family as having ''an incredible sense of humour'' and who had ''everything to live for''.

Just days before he choked on his paper towel, Owen had a near miss which the school failed to make sure it did not happen again.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that none of the staff in Owen's class had received any specific training to mitigate the risks associated with Pica.

This was despite the HSE investigation finding that Owen's risk of choking had been noted as a named person with a specified risk, this meant he was supposed to have a supervisor preventing him from eating anything that could cause him harm.

The school was found to have neither mitigated the risk associated with the garden area nor adequately managed the access to paper towels.

His foster parents, Jacqueline and Graham Blackwell, said the day Owen died had started out as any other.

“Owen got up and had his breakfast,” they said.

“I can still remember him waiting excitedly for his usual taxi driver to pick him. He gave me a cuddle and then left for school.

“Owen was part of our family, we had made so many adjustments and made so many plans so that he could remain with us indefinitely.

“We had been saving to take him to Florida to swim with dolphins, but this is something he will never get to do. We ended up having to use this money to cover the cost of Owen’s funeral.

“His death has ruined every part of our lives.

“Owen had everything to live for and was such a character and used to love joking and playing about – he had an incredible sense of humour.”

Before Owen's grandmother Maureen Garnett died, she provided a statement alongside her husband Cliff.

“After Owen had passed away we never slept, we never ate, all we could do was cry,” they said.

“This lasted for months.

“This was supposed to be a place where Owen was safe and secure and happy.

“Owen had Pica and should have been kept under close supervision at all times and I can’t understand why this didn’t happen.

“We would describe Owen as a unique, lovable, challenging and caring and happy child.

“He will never be forgotten and our family will never get over this.”

Unity Multi Academy Trust, which runs the school, apologised saying it accepts more could have been done and it's introducing a number of measures to make sure no other family goes through what Owen's endured.

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