Family sue over Essex boy's death

The family of a boy crushed by a falling tree branch has launched legal action against the National Trust.

Daniel Mullinger, from Colchester, Essex, died while sheltering from rain during an orienteering exercise at the trust's Felbrigg Hall, near Cromer, Norfolk, in June 2007.

Daniel, then aged 11, was one of 59 primary pupils from West Bergholt, Essex, who were on a school trip and staying at a field study centre near Cromer. Recording a verdict of accidental death in June 2008, coroner William Armstrong said teachers were conscientious and responsible.

Peter Griffiths of the National Trust said: "None of us in the National Trust can imagine what a challenge the last three years have been for Daniel Mullinger's family, and the families of the other children injured in this tragic accident in 2007… The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death."