Sally Witcomb, who was volunteering as a Project Manager for the well known UK-registered organisation, Raleigh International Expeditions had been a popular guide leader for 6th Cheam Guides and had left her job at a chocolate company to follow her dream to travel and work with children. She died on 26 March 2007 after falling from a height of 7m whilst on a zip wire. Sally’s harness became detached from a safety rope during the activity at an outdoor centre in Windhoek, Namibia.
The inquest into Sally’s death has now been concluded and the coroner has released his narrative. It was found that the cause of her death was most probably associated with the use of a snap-gate (clip) karabiner rather than the more secure locking device of a screw-gate karabiner.
Even though this was the most likely cause of the death Gareth Witcomb, Sally’s brother, did express the family’s disappointment that Raleigh had not taken steps to preserve the equipment that was destroyed after the accident, so that a proper and more conclusive analysis of the equipment could have been carried out.
Sally’s family was represented by
Sally Moore of Leigh Day and Co solicitors and Dr Margaret Bloom, barrister at Hardwicke Chambers.
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