‘My son died from a milk allergy at school – I want to make sure it never happens again’
The mother of a five-year-old boy who died after he was accidentally exposed to the wrong milk at school is calling for a new law to keep other children with allergies safe.
Benedict Blythe, a reception pupil at Barnack Primary School in Stamford, Lincolnshire, suffered fatal anaphylaxis after he was accidentally exposed to cow’s milk protein, probably from his own cup during break time.
An inquest into his death found the school’s delay in giving him his EpiPen, a failure to share his allergy plan, and a failure to learn from a previous allergic reaction, all likely contributed to his death.
Benedict died in December 2021, and the family have now waited more than three years for answers, with the inquest concluding this week.
Benedict’s mother Helen is working to ensure no other children die at school from an allergy. Pic: Family handout
He had a number of allergies, including cow’s milk protein, eggs, nuts and kiwi fruit.
Benedict, who joined the high-IQ society Mensa at the age of four, loved school, his mother Helen told Sky News.
“He was ferociously intelligent,” she said. “He was doing Year Five maths when he had just started school.”
He was also “kind and considerate”, she said, describing how her son once spent his entire lunchtime helping a friend find a lost scooter.
“We walked into school one day and he noticed a child that looked a bit nervous, and said, I’ll take you in, took his hand and walked him into school.”
She continued: “That kind of calm, positive energy, that is always missing and we will never come across it again. It’s a really hard thing to have lost.”
Benedict and his sister. Pic: Family handout
During break time, Benedict was to be served oat milk, which was stored in the staff fridge with his name on. The usual process was to take this into the classroom and pour it into his cup, handing it to him directly.
But on the day of his death, his milk was poured in the staffroom and then taken into the classroom.
It is not clear how the cross-contamination or mix-up of milk could have happened, but the foreperson of the jury at the inquest said: “We deem the probable source of the allergen that caused the fatal anaphylaxis is the ingestion of cow’s milk protein, most probably from his own receptacle during break time.”
Benedict vomited twice and lost consciousness before his adrenaline pen was administered.
By the time he reached hospital, it was too late. Benedict was five years old when he died.
There is currently no specific legislation to protect children with allergies. Pic: Family handout
Helen said the school had been told vomiting was “always” the first sign of an allergic reaction, but the pen was given too late to be effective.
“The advice is, if in doubt, don’t delay,” she said.
“The worst that will happen with giving adrenaline is that they will feel a bit ropey, but the risk of delaying it… probably even a minute earlier could have had an impact.”
A previous reaction
This was the second time Benedict had an allergic reaction at school, having previously been sick while eating a pizza.
Benedict had an allergic reaction at school once before. Pic: Family handout
And while she was keen to stress she did not blame individual staff members, the inquest found no allergy plan was created by the school, and there was no specific allergy policy when he started school. Staff responsible were also not privy to key information about Benedict’s allergy.
“Benedict’s death was preventable and was caused by a cascade of failures – individual, institutional, and systemic,” Helen said, shortly after the inquest returned its verdict.
In a statement, Benedict’s former school said: “The only comment that Barnack Primary School wishes to make at this point in time, is to offer its sincere and heartfelt condolences to Benedict’s family at the tragic loss of Benedict.”
Benedict’s Law
There is currently no legislation that exists to protect children with allergies, and so Helen is working to ensure no other children die at school from an allergy.
“Schools are left to interpret patchy, vague guidance and to carry life-or-death responsibility alone. This is unforgivable,” she said.
Following a campaign by the Benedict Blythe Foundation, set up in his memory, Redditch MP Chris Bloor presented the Schools (Allergy Safety) Bill, also known as Benedict’s Law to parliament on 9 July.
Pic: Family handout
“With an ever-growing number of children requiring allergy care, it has never been more vital that the place we entrust with the care of our children – the school where we drop them off every day – is a safe and secure environment, but too often it is not,” he told the House of Commons.
The law would require an allergy policy in every school, training for staff on how to identify reactions and deal with them, and spare adrenaline pens in every school.
It is backed by more than 50 MPs, a petition signed by more than 10,000 members of the public.
“We’ve done a huge amount of research and kind of built a really strong evidence base for this, including kind of a way of delivering Benedict’s Law so that it means it doesn’t cost the government any money,” Helen told Sky News.
Most children with undiagnosed allergies have a reaction for the first time at school, she said.
“Humans will always make mistakes, but there has to be a system in the background that allows for that because at the moment it is left up to chance when things go wrong.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said what happened to Benedict was a tragedy.
“Our thoughts remain with all of those who loved him,” they said.
“We recognise that allergies can be a barrier to children feeling safe and included at school, and are planning to consult on strengthened guidance for schools later this year.”
The dates for Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK have been announced, with the US president due to be welcomed by the King from 17 to 19 September.
Buckingham Palace also confirmed that President Trump and first lady Melania will be hosted by the King and Queen at Windsor Castle.
It was expected that the three-day state visit would take place in September after Mr Trump let slip earlier in April that he believed that was when his second “fest” was being planned for.
Windsor was also anticipated to be the location after the US president told reporters in the Oval Office that the letter from the King said Windsor would be the setting. Refurbishment works at Buckingham Palace also meant that Windsor was used last week for French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit.
This will be Mr Trump’s second state visit to the UK, an unprecedented gesture towards an American leader, having previously been invited to Buckingham Palace in 2019.
Donald Trump and Melania Trump posing with Charles and Camilla in 2019. Pic: Reuters
He has also been to Windsor Castle before, in 2018, but despite the considerable military pageantry of the day, and some confusion around inspecting the guard, it was simply for tea with Queen Elizabeth II.
Further details of what will happen during the three-day visit in September will be announced in due course.
On Friday, Sky News revealed it is now unlikely that the US president will address parliament, usually an honour given to visiting heads of state as part of their visit. Some MPs had raised significant concerns about him being given the privilege.
But the House of Commons will not be sitting at the time of Mr Trump’s visit as it will rise for party conference season on the 16 September, meaning the president will not be able to speak in parliament as President Macron did during his state visit this week. However, the House of Lords will be sitting.
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Labour MP: ‘Trump isn’t welcome here’
In February this year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer presented the US president with the letter from the King inviting him to visit during a meeting at the White House.
After reading it, Mr Trump said it was a “great, great honour”, adding “and that says at Windsor – that’s really something”.
In February, Sir Keir Starmer revealed a letter from the King inviting Donald Trump to the UK. Pic: Reuters
In the letter, the King suggested they might meet at Balmoral or Dumfries House in Scotland first before the much grander state visit. However, it is understood that, although all options were explored, complexities in both the King and Mr Trump’s diaries meant it wasn’t possible.
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This week, it emerged that Police Scotland are planning for a summer visit from the US president, which is likely to see him visit one or both of his golf clubs in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire, and require substantial policing resources and probably units to be called in from elsewhere in the UK.
Precedent for second-term US presidents, who have already made a state visit, is usually tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama.
A small plane has crashed at Southend Airport in Essex.
Essex Police said it was at the scene of a “serious incident”.
Images posted online showed huge flames and a large cloud of black smoke, with one witness saying they saw a “fireball”.
A police statement said: “We were alerted shortly before 4pm to reports of a collision involving one 12-metre plane.
“We are working with all emergency services at the scene now and that work will be ongoing for several hours.
“We would please ask the public to avoid this area where possible while this work continues.”
A huge fireball near the airport. Pic: Ben G
It has been reported that the plane involved in the incident is a Beech B200 Super King Air.
According to flight-tracking service Flightradar, it took off at 3.48pm and was bound for Lelystad, a city in the Netherlands.
One man, who was at Southend Airport with his family around the time of the incident, said the aircraft “crashed headfirst into the ground”.
John Johnson said: “About three or four seconds after taking off, it started to bank heavily to its left, and then within a few seconds of that happening, it more or less inverted and crashed.
“There was a big fireball. Obviously, everybody was in shock in terms of witnessing it. All the kids saw it and the families saw it.”
Mr Johnson added that he phoned 999 to report the crash.
Southend Airport said the incident involved “a general aviation aircraft”.
Four flights scheduled to take off from Southend this afternoon were cancelled, according to its website.
Flightradar data shows two planes that had been due to land at Southend were diverted to nearby airports London Gatwick and London Stansted.
Plumes of black smoke. Pic: UKNIP
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said four crews, along with off-road vehicles, have attended the scene.
Four ambulances and four hazardous area response team vehicles are also at the airport, as well as an air ambulance, the East of England Ambulance Service said.
Its statement described the incident as “still developing”.
Fire engines at the airport
David Burton-Sampson, the MP for Southend West and Leigh, posted on social media: “I am aware of an incident at Southend Airport. Please keep away and allow the emergency services to do their work.
“My thoughts are with everyone involved.”
Local councillor Matt Dent said on X: “At present all I know is that a small plane has crashed at the airport. My thoughts are with all those involved, and with the emergency services currently responding to the incident.”
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UK
Heidi Alexander says ‘fairness’ will be government’s ‘guiding principle’ when it comes to taxes at next budget
Another hint that tax rises are coming in this autumn’s budget has been given by a senior minister.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander was asked if Sir Keir Starmer and the rest of the cabinet had discussed hiking taxes in the wake of the government’s failed welfare reforms, which were shot down by their own MPs.
Trevor Phillips asked specifically if tax rises were discussed among the cabinet last week – including on an away day on Friday.
Politics Hub: Catch up on the latest
Tax increases were not discussed “directly”, Ms Alexander said, but ministers were “cognisant” of the challenges facing them.
Asked what this means, Ms Alexander added: “I think your viewers would be surprised if we didn’t recognise that at the budget, the chancellor will need to look at the OBR forecast that is given to her and will make decisions in line with the fiscal rules that she has set out.
“We made a commitment in our manifesto not to be putting up taxes on people on modest incomes, working people. We have stuck to that.”
Ms Alexander said she wouldn’t comment directly on taxes and the budget at this point, adding: “So, the chancellor will set her budget. I’m not going to sit in a TV studio today and speculate on what the contents of that budget might be.
“When it comes to taxation, fairness is going to be our guiding principle.”
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Afterwards, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Phillips: “That sounds to me like a barely disguised reference to tax rises coming in the autumn.”
He then went on to repeat the Conservative attack lines that Labour are “crashing the economy”.
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Chris Philp also criticsed the government’s migration deal with France
Mr Philp then attacked the prime minister as “weak” for being unable to get his welfare reforms through the Commons.
Discussions about potential tax rises have come to the fore after the government had to gut its welfare reforms.
Sir Keir had wanted to change Personal Independence Payments (PIP), but a large Labour rebellion forced him to axe the changes.
With the savings from these proposed changes – around £5bn – already worked into the government’s sums, they will now need to find the money somewhere else.
The general belief is that this will take the form of tax rises, rather than spending cuts, with more money needed for military spending commitments, as well as other areas of priority for the government, such as the NHS.
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