A man from Teeside, who suffered an electric shock, horrific burns and the loss of a limb, has lost his claim for compensation. The man, Paul Tyrone Mann, was injured in an accident 2001 when he climbed over the fence of an electricity sub station. Mr Mann claimed he was looking to retrieve a football when he climbed over the fence and suffered the accident.
Mr Mann’s personal injury lawyers were NEDL. They claimed that Northern Electric Distribution Limited should have done more to stop people from trying to access the dangerous electricity station. However, a panel of judges ruled that the electricity company couldn’t have done any more to protect the public, and that Mr Mann should not have attempted to enter the sub station.
When the accident happened in 2001 in Hartlepool, Mr Mann was just 15 years old. In order to enter the electricity sub station he placed a piece of wood on top of the fence to cover the spikes, climbed over, walked along the roof and slid down a mast. He then climbed a drainpipe before touching an exposed bar, causing him significant burns and the loss of one of his legs.
Should Mr Mann have been successful in his compensation claim for injuries, he would have won a seven figure sum. However the court ruled against him.
Lord Justice Wilson, who sat on the case, stated:
No amount of security measures will keep out a sufficiently determined trespasser.
Entry by the means adopted in the present case was not foreseeable and it was for that reason not reasonably practicable for the defendants to take further steps in relation to its wall.
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