A HEADSTONE that fell on a schoolboy, crushing him to death, may have started leaning up to a decade before the incident.

A fatal accident inquiry into the death of eight-year-old Ciaran Williamson heard tree roots had been growing under the 7ft headstone at Craigton Cemetery in Glasgow.

This may have been pushing the stone forward for several years before Ciaran died while playing with friends.

The hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court has heard Ciarian died instantaneously when the stone fell on him in May 2015.

Expert structural engineer Professor John Knapton said he thought it was leaning at an angle of six to eight degrees from its original upright position.

He said: “I would be astonished if it had not been leaning 10 years ago.”

Mr Knapton was also asked what he would have done if he had been asked to inspect the memorial based on its condition. He said: “From the information I would have concluded it was a memorial that was unsafe.

“I would not give it a clean bill of health.”

The inquiry heard previously from Peter Hayman, a member of the National Association of Memorial Masons, who said he would have fenced the stone off immediately had he inspected it prior to the accident.

Dorothy Bain, QC, representing Ciaran’s mother Stephanie Griffin, asked if the stone would have toppled had one of the boys jumped from a nearby wall and made “minimal contact” with it.

Mr Knapton replied: The crucial matter is the angle of lean.”

The inquiry continues.