David Iredale Inquest, The Australian, 15 August, 2008.

Not sure if this one got a run. Not sure of date.

I wrote a number of stories on this very sad incident.

John Stapleton
AT least one of the three boys from the elite private school Sydney Grammar involved in an ill-fated trek in the Blue Mountains for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards was never shown the handbook explaining how the scheme works.

The Award's official handbook, which provides detailed information for participants in the scheme, designed to build character amongst young people, states there should be a minimum of four boys on any trek in order to qualify for the scheme's awards and recommends a minimum group of five to seven for remote area treks.

The story of the staggering indifference of the 000 operators, who took five calls from 17-year-old David Iredale as he was dying from heat exhaustion but never even took his name or phone number and failed to pass on vital information to police for several days, has outraged the nation but also overshadowed the culpability or otherwise of the school.

Sydney Grammar, which took months to respond to police inquiries for information, is expected to come under intense pressure this week as chemistry teacher Mr Jim Forbes, the school's Duke of Edinburgh Award co-ordinator, faces the inquest.

While the NSW Ambulance Service has unreservedly apologised to the grieving Iredale family, the school has denied any knowledge of their trek.

But evidence tendered to the inquest records the boys frustration that Mr Forbes forgot to bring them a promised and potentially life-saving GPS.on the school's annual speech night just prior to the trek. 

An email from David Ireland written two days prior to them leaving for the Blue Mountains assures the other boys that everything will be alright because the maps have been provided by Mr Forbes.

Clearly written on their map at the location of their campsite near the base of Mount Solitary, where they spent the first night of their planned three day trek, is written the words: ``Lots H2O here''.

Whether or not the maps were provided directly by Sydney Grammar to the boys and where that information came from is an issue before the inquiry.

An email from David Iredale, written to his friends on December 8, two days before the boys began their trek, states: ``I have all the maps and navigation sheets which were given to me by Mr Forbes, so they are reliable... They are all correct and I have been assured by Mr Forbes that this is a fairly easy trail to follow so we won't have any problems on that front.''

A friend of David Ireland's from his earliest school years, fellow class member Phillip Chan, now 19 and studying law at the University of NSW, spent all of Friday being cross examined at the inquest. With frequent silences, during which he often appeared close to tears, Phillip Chan told of how they had ran out of water during the blistering heat of the afternoon of the first day of their trek. He recorded their shock when arriving at the campsite to find no water at all.

Under cross examination from barrister Penny Sibtain, representing the administrators of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation, Chan denied ever having ever seen or been provided by the school with the scheme's handbook detailing requirements for journeys in remote locations. He also said recommendations on minimum numbers needed for treks had never been discussed with them by the school.

Already dehydrated and their spirits down, on the night before David Iredale's death the three boys spent a restless night before setting off from the campsite early for the Kedumba River, where they knew there would be water.

He recalled agreeing with his friend David Iredale sentiments about their map's misleading statements on water supply: ``Plenty of water my arse''.

Only two of them arrived.
The inquest resumes today.