Jury retires in inquest into death of boy who had allergic reaction at school

Jurors in the inquest into the death of a five-year-old boy who had an allergic reaction and collapsed at school have begun their deliberations.

An inquest at Peterborough Town Hall heard Benedict Blythe, who was a reception pupil at Barnack Primary School in Stamford, Lincolnshire, died in hospital on December 1 2021 after he vomited twice and went into cardiac arrest.

The jury heard that the boy, who joined high-IQ society Mensa aged four, was asthmatic and allergic to milk, eggs and some nuts.

His medical cause of death was found to be food-induced anaphylaxis.

Area coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Elizabeth Gray told jurors they “may not record” that the allergic reaction was a response to the gingerbread biscuit Benedict brought from home and ate at break time, the dairy-free advent calendar chocolate he ate before school, or his usual breakfast which he ate with oat milk that morning.

She told the jury: “You must decide the case solely on the evidence you see and hear in court.

“Please do not speculate, do not use the benefit of hindsight. You must not allow yourselves to be influenced by any emotional reaction to the case.”