The man, Mr K, was accompanying his son who was playing football at the college one evening in March.   The football was kicked from the pitch onto the adjacent children’s play area and Mr K went to retrieve it.  Unbeknown to Mr K, the children’s play area was surrounded by two tensioned wires, set about 12 inches off the ground.  It was dark, and Mr K did not see the wires nor were there any signs indicating their presence. He fell over the wires and injured his leg and his nose.  He has also suffered psychological injuries.

Tracey pursues compensation for the fall

Mr K contacted Graysons and Tracey took up his case.  She contacted the college saying that:

• it owed a common duty of care to Mr K and should have made sure the premises were safe for him to us
• the football pitch was used at night and, as it was reasonably foreseeable that the football might be kicked out of it and need retrieving from the play area, it was also foreseeable that the wires would have to be negotiated
• the premises had not been properly assessed
• the wires were not otherwise marked and represented a hazard

College denies liability for fall

The college denied liability and so Tracey issued court proceedings.  Since the accident, Tracey has identified that the play area has not been used or inspected for over five years and had never been fenced off, and the wires have now been removed.   The college then made a low offer of £5,000 but Tracey was able to negotiate this up to £7,000.  Mr K was very pleased with the outcome and happy that he had avoided going to court.

If you have had an accident in a public place and want to know if you can claim compensation, contact our experts now.  We will assess your case, free of charge, and let you know if you are able to make a claim.  You can also find out more about claiming compensation for accidents in public places on our web pages.