Grandfather, 64, who fell from a village loft and cracked his head while helping out at a school nativity play is suing for more than £200,000
- Graham Holdsworth has made a High Court claim after he was injured at a local primary schools Christmas show in Blakeney, Norfolk, in December 2018
- He hit his head and sustained an injury which rendered him disabled to this day
A grandfather who fell from a village loft and cracked his head while helping out at a school nativity play is suing for more than £200,000.
Graham Holdsworth, 64, from Walsingham, was volunteering at a Langham Village School’s Christmas show at Blakeney Village Hall, Norfolk, when he fell in December 2018.
He was asked to put on the stage lights by a ‘stressed and anxious’ headteacher minutes before the play was due to start, he climbed up a loft ladder, but lost his footing and crashed to the ground floor.
Mr Holdsworth, a DIY shop worker, says he sustained an injury which has rendered him disabled and still affects him to this day.
He has now filed papers suing local education authority Norfolk County Council and the Blakeney Village Hall as well as the Pavilion Trust for more than £200,000 compensation at the High Court in London.
Grandfather Graham Holdsworth, 64, (pictured) who fell from a village loft and cracked his head while was volunteering at a local primary school’s nativity play in Blakeney, Norfolk, in December 2018 is suing for more than £200,000
He was asked to put on the stage lights by a ‘stressed and anxious’ headteacher minutes before the play was due to start, he climbed up a loft ladder, but lost his footing and crashed to the ground floor. The DIY shop worker, says he sustained an injury which has rendered him disabled and still affects him to this day (pictured following the injury)
Both deny liability, with lawyers for the council arguing that if the school is held responsible for his accident, it could jeopardise school plays being held all over the country.
James Todd KC, the council’s barrister, said: ‘A school nativity play is a desirable activity and the school’s ability to call on occasional volunteer help with simple tasks for such an activity is a benefit to the school and to society.’
In papers filed at the court Mr Holdsworth’s lawyers say he agreed to operate the sound board at Langham Village School’s December 2018 nativity play after the normal sound man was unable to attend.
A few days before the performance was due to take place, he was shown by the usual sound operator, Peter Yetman, how to operate the audio system at the venue and how to turn off the lights afterwards.
He was shown by Mr Yetman, who is a member of local amateur dramatics group, the Blakeney Players, to a small room where a retractable ladder allowed access to a loft where the switch was situated.
On the day of the show, he was approached by ‘stressed and anxious’ school head Polly Kossowicz, who said the play would not be able to start without the lights being turned on and asking for his help, say his lawyers.
‘When the claimant reached the room in which the loft access point was situated, the retractable ladder was not pulled down,’ the documents state.
‘The loft hatch was open and the ladder was retracted within it. The claimant had not been given any instruction or training in how to draw down the ladder and put it in place in order to make it safe for use.
‘Mrs Kossowicz indicated to the claimant that the play needed to start urgently. The claimant therefore attempted to pull down the ladder. He pulled it down as best he could and began to climb it.
He has now filed papers suing local education authority Norfolk County Council and the Blakeney Village Hall (pictured) as well as the Pavilion Trust for more than £200,000 compensation at the High Court in London
Lawyers for Mr Holdsworth (pictured before the injury) say he agreed to operate the sound board at Langham Village School’s play after the normal sound man was unable to attend. A few days before the performance was due to take place, he was shown by the usual sound operator, Peter Yetman, how to operate the audio system and switch off the lights after
‘Rather than foot the ladder, Mrs Kossowicz walked away to the door and started to talk urgently to a person who had come to look for her.
‘As the claimant neared the top of the ladder, the top plate on which he was standing moved and the whole ladder swung beneath him.
‘He fell from height to the ground below. He struck his head, initially on the edge of the loft hatch and then subsequently on the hard floor. His back also hit the hard floor.’
Mr Holdsworth suffered a ‘serious traumatic brain injury,’ which has led to ‘cognitive, executive and emotional dysfunction’ and changes to his personality, it is claimed.
He also suffered a spinal injury, has been left permanently disabled and his ability to work hampered, say the lawyers.
He is suing the village hall trust, as managers of the venue, and the local authority, which is responsible for the school.
Mr Holdsworth claims no sufficient risk assessment was undertaken and that safe access to the light switch was not provided.
He was also not shown how to safely use the ladder, which was in place ready for use when he first visited, but retracted on the day of the show.
Both the trust and the council deny liability for the accident.
In its defence to the claim, the trust’s barrister Steven Snowden KC says the stage lights which could have been used were operated by a switch next to the stage.
The ones in the loft from which Mr Holdsworth fell were special ‘theatrical lights’ which were owned by the local amateur dramatics group, the Blakeney Players.
‘The residual control over the conditions and safety and use of the lighting loft and the means of access to it rested with the Blakeney Players and those to whom they gave access to the loft, such as the local education authority and its employees and volunteers on 14 December 2018,’ he says.
‘The agreement between the trust and the council did not include provision for the council to make use of the ‘theatrical lights’ accessed via the lighting loft.
‘However, it is denied that it was reasonably foreseeable that those putting on the play would need to enter the lighting loft.
‘The production could have been put on using the local ‘stage lights’ only, which were switched and controlled from the stage, not from the lighting loft.’
In defending its claim, the council is relying on the Compensation Act 2006, which forces courts to take special account of whether the event at which an accident occurs was a ‘desirable’ community activity.
On the day of the show, he was approached by ‘stressed and anxious’ school head Polly Kossowicz, who said the play would not be able to start without the lights being turned on and asking for his help, say his lawyers (pictured is Blakeney Village Hall)
It also points to the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Act 2015, which protects those who are acting for the ‘benefit of society’ when something goes wrong and they are sued.
‘Schools would be discouraged from taking advantage of offers of volunteer services if it were the case that such an arrangement required the school to treat the volunteer as if he or she were an employee for all purposes,’ Mr Todd says.
However he also claims that a ‘reasonable and adequate risk assessment’ of the performance had been conducted by school staff.
‘There was a reasonably safe means of access to the light switch, involving the use of the ladder, properly operated,’ he continues.
A trial will take place at a later date, unless the case is settled beforehand.
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