THE parents of a Blackpool boy who plunged down a deep pothole have won their battle to prove who was to blame for his death this week.

Lee Craddock was on a Scout trip in 1995 when he fell 365ft down Gaping Ghyll, in North Yorkshire.

His honour Judge John Appleton decided the liability for Lee's death lay with the Scout Association and blamed Martin Bailey, one of the supervisors who had since collapsed and died, for giving inadequate supervision leading up to the fall.

Judge Appleton said the Scouts had gone to Gaping Ghyll, the deepest cave in England, with no proper equipment and supervision was "woefully inaccurate" with Scout leaders showing "woeful ignorance" stating that they were under a false sense of security that Mr Bailey knew what he was doing.

Judge Appleton ruled that Lee's father, who was on the trip with Lee and his older son, Ian, was not to blame in any way.

His parents expressed sympathy for the other Scout leaders and the family of Martin Bailey in an emotional statement outside the high court in Preston about the devastating impact the loss of their youngest son has had on them.

The amount of damages has yet to be decided and the Scout Association is considering an appeal.