THE jury in the inquest into the death of Kyle Rees has retired to consider its verdict.

Earlier today, executive head teacher of the school where teenager Kyle died after being struck by a ball said they took their duty of care to pupils “extremely seriously.”

Debbie Godfrey-Phaure told Kyle's mother the school had done everything it could to protect the children in its care.

Mrs Godfrey-Phaure is the overarching head of Portchester School, now known as Harewood College, where 16-year-old Kyle was fatally injured by a indoor hockey practice ball in the playground on February 27.

She told the third day of Kyle’s inquest at Bournemouth Town Hall that her pupils were “very, very dear to her.”

Following a question from Kyle’s mother Tanya Cooper, she said: “Yes, I believe the school takes its duty of care towards all children and all the staff within it extremely seriously.

“The children are very, very dear to us. There is nothing I can say that will relieve your pain and I’m so sorry for that but I do believe the school looks after the children to the best of its ability.”

The jury inquest had previously heard that, in the minutes before Kyle was struck, dozens of pupils had been throwing balls, shoes, water bottles and even a chair at each other across the playground.

Jurors were told the incident occurred during a changeover period between registration and lessons, a time not previously thought to pose a problem and therefore unsupervised.

Mrs Godfrey-Phaure said the school had an active play policy, which she believed worked well. She also said that the ball-throwing incident was “unforseeable” and said that, if it had not resulted in Kyle’s tragic death, the school would have taken steps to identify and exclude culprits.

The inquest also heard from Detective Sergeant Trevor Hawkins, who said they initially arrested a teenage pupil at the school in connection with the incident. He was first arrested on suspicion of GBH, then manslaughter, before being released without charge.

“He was obviously very upset and concerned for his best friend and was distressed when he realised he was dead,” he said.

“All the indications are that he was merely intending to throw the ball along the building line back into the main playground, almost as a last act of defiance before going to class.

“He didn’t intend to cause inury to anyone. This was a view shared by the Crown Prosecution Service.”