Amsterdam rock climbing directors sentenced to community service after boy's fatal fall

The court in Amsterdam sentenced the two directors of Klimmuur Amsterdam BV to 120 hours of community service on Friday, after an 11-year-old boy fell to his death during a children’s party at the rock climbing center. According to the court, the management is responsible for the boy’s death because they did not have the safety policy in order.

The court convicted the directors of manslaughter. The company itself was also fined 60,000 euros, half of which was conditionally suspended.

The 11-year-old boy fell from a height of 14 meters on 3 November 2023 during a children’s party with ten kids. He died in the hospital from his injuries. The accident happened at the rock climbing center near Amsterdam Central Station.

According to the court, the center’s safety policy for children’s parties was inadequate. Before the children were allowed to start climbing, the four accompanying adults received a 15-minute-long instruction talk and practiced for 15 minutes. After that, there was insufficient supervision by the employees of the climbing center, the court ruled. The climbing center “let inexperienced parents secure children without checking whether it had been done properly.”

Like the Public Prosecution Service (OM), the court considered that manslaughter had been proven. But unlike the OM recommended, the court did not impose conditional prison sentences against the directors.

The court stressed that the events had an enormous impact on the parents of the deceased child. “That will not be taken away by this criminal case,” the court said. The incident also left deep scars on the parents and children who attended the party.