Week 6
- Paper 1: The Guardian
The parents of Horatio Chapple, 17, told the inquest in Sailsbury, Willtshire that they were wrongly assured that a number of safety measures would help keep thier son safe. A former high court judge highlihted a string of mistakes and equipment failures that may have contrubited to the tragedy. Horatio's parents, David and Olivia said that, "we had been concerned about bears before our son went on the trip to the remote Svalbard archipelago in Norway and discussed what he would to if he encountered one." They said "we would not have let him go if we had known that safety equipment was missing or defective."
Olivia Chapple said she was "more anxious" than her husband and son and went through every detail in the expedition's risk assessment to reassure herself. The risk assessment itself referred to flares being available to all expedition members to help them frighten away bears. However, as David states, Horatio had to defend himself with just his bare hands. Olivia said: "The trip was an expensive trip, I believed that they would have proper equipment...I was naive." Horatio's father carried on to say: "We believed that the staff would do as they said and act responsibly to protect the children under their care. I believed and trusted the things that were listed, otherwise I wouldn't have let him go."
Horatio, an Eton College student who had planned to follow his parents into medcine, was part of an expedition organised by the charity the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES), which was created by a member of Scott's fateful expedition to the Antartic in the 1930s to give youngsters a tase of adventure. As the party slept on the morning of 5th August 2011, a few miles inland, the bear struck. Former Judge, Sir David Steel's report gives a vivid account of the chaos that happened, "It would appear likely that the bear must have ripped open the tent on Horatio's side. It then dragged Horatio out causing serious, indeed probably mortal wounds to his head. The screaming and shouts of 'bear' woke the rest of the camp. Horatio appeared to try and sit up or even attemp to stand whereupon the bear reared up and slammed into him. He fell to the ground. He was not seen to move again." The expedition's science leader had fired four or five shots at the bear from the party's rifle, which dated back to the second world war, as the creature rampaged through the camp but the bullets fell harmlessly to the ground as it had been set up wrongly. The bear turned on the man and mauled him about the head, causing him to drop the gun. The mountain leader of the group diverted the bear by throwing a stone at it, but the bear turned on him too and mauled him badly. The science leader found one of the edjected bullets, loaded the gun and shot the animal dead.
The chief leader of the expedition for BSES, Richard Payne says that it has now completely revamped its standard operations procedure for polar reigons.
- Paper 2: Daily Mail
Horatio Chapple, 17, was dragged from his tent while on a £4,000 adventure holiday in Svalbard, Norway, with friends in 2011. The horrific details were laid bare in a report which concluded that the death was "not unforseeable". It was told how trip organisers had realised the tripwire kit was defective only once the expedition had started, leaving the group to improvise with paper clips and safety pins.
Sir David Steel, a High Court judge, said, "the group were camping on a remote glacier and had been using a tripwire which should have triggered if crossed." But at 7:30am on August 5th the bear broke in while the group were asleep, and the devices failed to trigger. The 39-stone animal ripped open Horatio's tent and dragged him outside, causing 'mortal' head wounds. As his horrified companions screamed 'bear', others in the camp left their tents and witnessed Horatio being mauled by the animal.
Sir David wrote: "Horatio appeared to try and sit up or even attemp to stand whereupon the bear reared up and slammed into him. He fell to the ground. He was not seen to move again." It is reported that one of the expedition leaders, Michael Reid, tried four times to shoot the bear with a rifle, but the bullets were simply ejected on to the ground. The bear then launched itself on him, and he dropped the gun as he was being mauled. When a secon leader threw a stone at the bear, it mauled him too before attacking others in the group, injuring four in all. Witnesses said it kept going back to the "prone body of Horatio", which was lying life-less on the ground.
Sir David stated: "A significant number of parts were missing for the tripwire, and there were not enough pen flares - which can be used to scare away polar bears - to go around. And despite the equipment being defective, it had been decided not to implement a 'bear 'watch', in which members of the group would stay awake to guard the camp." Richard Payne, from the BSES, who was 'ultimately responsible' for the children's safety, left chacking the pallet of tripwires until the last minute, when a 'substantial shortfall' of items was discovered, it was said. Vital parts were missing, including half the stakes needed to set up a boundary and two-thirds of the alarm triggers.
To conclude, Sir David said: "This tragedy was caused by the rare occurance of an intrusion of a starving polar bear into a camp situated well inland. It was a remote possibility but not unforseeable."
The Daily Mail on the other hand, gave a very detailed account of the actual attack. Some of the images created, although quite gory, enable the reader to get a bigger picture of what actually happened to Horatio, and why the BSES have been making such a fuss about safety and equipment standards since the accident.
Sir David Steel, a High Court judge, said, "the group were camping on a remote glacier and had been using a tripwire which should have triggered if crossed." But at 7:30am on August 5th the bear broke in while the group were asleep, and the devices failed to trigger. The 39-stone animal ripped open Horatio's tent and dragged him outside, causing 'mortal' head wounds. As his horrified companions screamed 'bear', others in the camp left their tents and witnessed Horatio being mauled by the animal.
Sir David wrote: "Horatio appeared to try and sit up or even attemp to stand whereupon the bear reared up and slammed into him. He fell to the ground. He was not seen to move again." It is reported that one of the expedition leaders, Michael Reid, tried four times to shoot the bear with a rifle, but the bullets were simply ejected on to the ground. The bear then launched itself on him, and he dropped the gun as he was being mauled. When a secon leader threw a stone at the bear, it mauled him too before attacking others in the group, injuring four in all. Witnesses said it kept going back to the "prone body of Horatio", which was lying life-less on the ground.
Sir David stated: "A significant number of parts were missing for the tripwire, and there were not enough pen flares - which can be used to scare away polar bears - to go around. And despite the equipment being defective, it had been decided not to implement a 'bear 'watch', in which members of the group would stay awake to guard the camp." Richard Payne, from the BSES, who was 'ultimately responsible' for the children's safety, left chacking the pallet of tripwires until the last minute, when a 'substantial shortfall' of items was discovered, it was said. Vital parts were missing, including half the stakes needed to set up a boundary and two-thirds of the alarm triggers.
To conclude, Sir David said: "This tragedy was caused by the rare occurance of an intrusion of a starving polar bear into a camp situated well inland. It was a remote possibility but not unforseeable."
- In Conclusion...
The Daily Mail on the other hand, gave a very detailed account of the actual attack. Some of the images created, although quite gory, enable the reader to get a bigger picture of what actually happened to Horatio, and why the BSES have been making such a fuss about safety and equipment standards since the accident.
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