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Written on 25th May 2021

Boyes Turner’s personal injury lawyers have secured a settlement for a teacher who was injured when he slipped on a wet grassy slope onto concrete steps, after being pelted with water in the stocks at a school fair. He suffered a broken leg and elbow, both with ongoing pain, and a psychological injury. 

Slipping hazard led to fall, causing broken bones and psychological injury

Our client was a teacher at the school whose fundraising association organised the school’s summer fair. One of the attractions at the fair was a set of stocks. Our client had volunteered to be put in the stocks to allow himself to be pelted with water by visitors to the fair. The stocks were positioned at the top of a grassy slope leading down to concrete steps. 

Throughout the morning, water was thrown at teachers who had been put in the stocks. By the time our client went into the stocks in the middle of the day, the grass beneath and surrounding the stocks was waterlogged and soggy. As our client left the stocks, soaked in water, he slipped on the watery, grassy slope. He fell and landed, partly on the concrete steps. 

He suffered a spiral fracture of the right tibia and distal fibula (bones of the lower leg) and a fracture to his elbow. He had ongoing pain and developed a psychological injury.

Making a claim and out-of-court settlement

We helped our client pursue a claim for compensation for his injuries against the school’s fundraising association (defendant). The claim was made on the basis that, during the fair, the defendant was the legal occupier of the area that was used for the fair, and also owed our client a duty of care. The defendant had failed to take reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable injury on the grassy sloped area around the stocks which would inevitably become wet and slippery from people throwing water. They had failed to consider the risk of having the stocks positioned directly on the grass at the top of the grassy slope leading down to concrete steps, with no fencing, barrier or non-slip matting. They had also failed to provide warnings by signs or verbally of the risk of slipping on the wet, sloping ground. 

The defendant denied that they were responsible for our client’s injuries but settled the claim out of court shortly after proceedings were issued.  

If you have suffered a serious injury as a result of someone else’s negligence, you can talk to one of our lawyers, free and confidentially, by contacting us here.