By Christian Abbott Neil Shaw
McVitie’s say their biscuit was not responsible for the death of Benedict Blythe, five, who had an allergic reaction at school. Experts from the manufacturer, Pladis, said evidence suggests traces of milk or nuts were not present in the gingerbread men snack that Benedicte ate before suffering a fatal allergic reaction. Pladis confirmed it had independent tests carried out on samples from the same batch of gingerbread men eaten by the young boy. Read more: Shock pictures show bullet holes in glass where woman seriously hurt in shooting The incident happened during the morning break at Barnack Primary School on 1st December, 2021, with staff claiming that the biscuits were the last things the boy ate and were brought in from home. An Inquest at Peterborough Town Hall was launched into the circumstances surrounding Benedict’s death, with the jury hearing that he was allergic to cows鈥 milk and nuts, and had refused an oat milk drink poured into his cup by his teacher. Benedict’s oat milk was stored in the same fridge as their cows’ milk, along with a different carton of 鈥榓lternative milk鈥, which belonged to another pupil and was lactose-free milk and still contained dairy allergens. In a statement for the inquest that outlined the independent, third-party testing carried out on the gingerbread men sample, Andrew Baldwin, who is responsible for the safety and quality of McVitie鈥檚 products, said: 鈥淭he substances tested for [nuts and milk] were not present in detectable limits.鈥 He added that the tests would identify 鈥渆xtremely low levels of allergenic materials鈥. Colette Firth, executive headteacher of Barnack Primary School, was asked about a phone call she made after Benedict had been taken to hospital, to the director of education at Peterborough City Council, Jonathan Lewis. During the call, she said a pupil had suffered an allergic reaction after eating a biscuit, but she had not mentioned his oat milk. Addressing the jury, she said: 鈥淭he report to me that day was that Benedict had tipped away his milk and did not want it. That was my understanding on the day.鈥 Mrs Firth explained that school staff were not told to keep the bowl of Benedict鈥檚 vomit as evidence, nor were they asked to leave the unwashed cup that had contained his oat milk. 鈥淲e were not asked by anyone to conduct any sort of investigation,鈥 she said. Mrs Firth added: “We were part of other people鈥檚 investigations.鈥 Earlier today, jurors were shown footage from a police officer鈥檚 body-worn camera as he surveyed the reception classroom at Barnack Primary School on the afternoon of Benedict鈥檚 death. The footage captures images of a bowl of vomit on a table, as well as discarded packaging for two adrenaline auto-injectors that were used on Benedict, an asthma inhaler, a resuscitation kit, and a defibrillator. Despite CPR by school staff, Benedict鈥檚 father and paramedics, Benedict died at Peterborough City Hospital about two-and-a-half hours after having an allergic reaction at school. The inquest has heard evidence from Benedict鈥檚 parents, Helen and Pete Blythe, who live in Stamford, and from several members of school staff. Further health evidence about Benedict, and a recording of the 999 call made after his collapse, are still to be heard by the jury. The purpose of any inquest is to publicly investigate the circumstances surrounding someone鈥檚 death and how they died, but not to apportion blame. Benedict鈥檚 inquest is expected to continue into next week.