Family Handout Brooke was killed by a large tree branch The death of a 12-year-old girl after she was hit by a falling branch while playing on a rope swing was accidental, a coroner has ruled. Brooke Wiggins died in November 2024 after a large tree branch snapped off and crushed her in Banstead, Surrey. The inquest had heard Surrey County Council (SCC) failed to inspect the tree months earlier and had not carried out work that could have made inspecting safety issues easier. But Assistant Coroner Ivor Collett dismissed criticism of the council, and said Brooke's death was a "shocking accident". He said SCC, which was responsible for maintaining the tree, could not have reasonably been expected to do more to prevent what happened - "bearing in mind their duties and... and the public resources they have to manage". He also pointed to "the huge number of trees" the council was responsible for. The inquest previously heard the tree had been reviewed by the local authority in May 2022.…