The owners of a Christian outdoor adventure centre in Scotland have been fined £16,000 after a schoolgirl died following a gorge-jumping activity.

But not guilty pleas were accepted at Kirkcudbright Sheriff Court by the two instructors running the activity, Gareth Alcorn and Richard Farrell. Laura McDairmant, 15, of Wetheral, near Carlisle, died after she leapt into a pool at the Grey Mare’s Tail, Black Loch, in the Galloway Forest Park.

She hit protruding rocks and died the following day in Dumfries Infirmary.

The Abernethy Trust pleaded guilty under health and safety law to not managing the risks during the activity. Sheriff Kenneth Hogg said the size of the fine marked the revulsion of the community after the trust failed Ms McDairmant.

She had been on an adventure holiday at the trust’s Barcaple centre, near Ringford, Galloway.

The centre’s owners said after the verdict: “Over the 37 years of operating as an outdoor provider, Abernethy has taken very seriously the importance of safety in all aspects of its outdoor adventure programmes, and until that point two years ago had operated without major incident or injury.

“Well over 400,000 young people throughout that time have enjoyed adventure activities, all provided in full compliance with the regulatory authorities.

“Since the accident in 2006, stringent measures have been taken to completely review again every current site and activity offered in our programmes to ensure risk assessment and safety management procedures are being operated to the highest standards. Everything has been done that is practically possible to prevent an accident like this happening again in the future.”

The Trust was supported by Tim Walker, principal of Glenmore Lodge, the national outdoor training centre. He said: “Accidents are a fact of life: most occur at home or on our roads. The Abernethy Trust has an excellent reputation within the outdoor education sector. Many hundreds of thousands have benefited from programmes offered by the trust. I know that the lessons learned from this tragic accident will be for the benefit of the whole outdoor education sector.

“My greatest concern would be that any future opportunities for education in the outdoors are denied to young people.”

The body which oversees adventurous activities for young people also backed the centre operators. Marcus Bailie, head of inspection of the Adventure Activities Licensing Service, said: “No amount of regulation or inspection can prevent all accidents.

“We have inspected the Abernethy Trust centres on a regular basis since licensing was introduced in 1996. On each occasion our inspectors have been satisfied that they fulfil all the relevant statutory requirements, and we also check that Abernethy maintains a sensible balance between the benefits of what they do and the risk of harm. On this basis we are satisfied that the Abernethy centres continue to hold Adventure Activity Licences.”

Full story at Grough: the inside view of the outside world.

• Filed under Crime, Scottish Christian News Monitor, South of Scotland, Youth.