England Has Gone Mad. Post Your Examples
Bungling handyman puts ladder against branch he is sawing off... then sues bosses after breaking his foot
By Liz Hull
Last updated at 9:39 PM on 14th April 2010 DAILY MAIL
As DIY disasters go, they don't come much dafter than sawing off a tree branch that you've just leaned your ladder against.
But when he was asked to prune a sycamore tree in the grounds of a luxury hotel, handyman Peter Aspinall propped his ladder against the branch he was removing instead of the tree trunk.
He sawed through the branch and it plummeted 14 feet to the ground. The ladder and Mr Aspinall quickly followed.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2010/04/460.jpg Bumbling: Egerton House hotel, Bolton, where handyman Peter Aspinall injured his foot after falling off a ladder which he placed against the branch he was sawing off
The 64-year-old broke his heel, damaged ligaments and spent ten days in hospital after the fall.
Yesterday it emerged that Mr Aspinall, who has been off sick since the accident 18 months ago, is suing Egerton House Hotel, near Bolton, for his injuries.
A court ordered the hotel to pay £2,015 after a health and safety investigation concluded that the owners had failed to carry out a 'risk assessment' on the dangers of sawing a tree branch with a ladder against it and should have trained Mr Aspinall and a colleague on where to place the ladder.
walkies'
The hotel's solicitor, David Walton, told magistrates: 'It is an unusual accident. Laurel and Hardy do that sort of thing.'
Speaking after the hearing, he added: 'The hotel was very disappointed that common sense did not prevail and that the case was brought against them.
'The prosecution case was that had there been a routine risk assessment for the gardening activity of pruning trees then it's unlikely that this accident would have happened.
'But, even if there had been a risk assessment done, no one would expect two experienced men to do such a thing.'
The court heard the accident happened on July 18, 2008, after Mr Aspinall, a part-time handyman who had worked at the hotel for only two weeks, was asked by gardener Alan Ashworth to help him prune a tree which was shading the lawn.
The two men placed a ladder against the branch which was to be cut but, as Mr Ashworth was left-handed, he felt it was too awkward for him to saw, so asked Mr Aspinall to cut it.
While Mr Ashworth held the bottom of the ladder, Mr Aspinall climbed up and began using a bow saw to remove the branch. When the branch broke, Mr Aspinall fell to the ground.
Mr Walton said hotel owner Janet Hampton was not on the premises at the time and, if she had been, would have ensured the task was carried out by specialist tree surgeons.
He added that Mr Ashworth was embarrassed and sorry about what had happened.
In a statement, Mrs Hampton, who has run the 29-bedroomed, 200-year-old hotel for four years, said: 'Naturally the hotel is concerned that the systems it had in place did not prevent the employees involved in this incident from attempting to cut the branch and that one of those employees should then fall and sustain injury.
'Action has been taken to ensure that this could not happen again.'
The hotel - which won Lancashire Life Hotel of the Year 2009-10 - pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations by failing to undertake risk assessments for employees working in the hotel gardens.
It was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 council costs and a £15 victim surcharge by magistrates.
Mr Aspinall, who previously worked for British Aerospace for 24 years, could not be reached for comment.
Caravanner, 61, prosecuted for having Swiss Army knife
Caravanner, 61, prosecuted for having Swiss Army knife in his glove box... to cut up fruit on picnics
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 12:53 PM on 15th April 2010
'Stupid law': Rodney Knowles, who walks with the aid of a stick, poses with the penknife found in his glove compartment
A disabled caravanner who kept a penknife in his glove compartment to use on picnics has blasted the authorities after being dragged through court for possessing an offensive weapon.
Rodney Knowles, 61, walks with the aid of a stick and had used the Swiss Army knife to cut up fruit on picnics with his wife.
Knowles yesterday admitted possessing an offensive weapon at Torquay Magistrates Court. He was given a conditional discharge.
But speaking after the hearing, he said: 'It's a stupid law. Now I have a criminal record.'
Prosecutor Philip Sewell told the court that Knowles was stopped by police when he left a pub on February 24.
He was arrested for suspected drink-driving but a breath test showed he was under the legal limit, the court was told.
But Knowles was charged with possession of the knife, which was found in its pouch in the car glove compartment.
Mr Sewell told the court: 'He told officers that he had the knife for caravanning. He is not working and had no malicious reason for carrying the blade'
Defence solicitor Jolyon Tuck said Knowles, who is a carer for his wife, had used the knife to cut up fruit on picnics with his wife.
'He accepts it was in his car and the law is very clear,' he said. He admits possession of it and he had no good reason for having it.'
Chairman of the bench Robert Horne ordered forfeiture of the knife and £40 costs to be paid.
He said: 'There is no previous conviction history whatsoever and it was not in his possession and was in the car glove compartment in a pouch.'
The retired maintenance engineer, from Buckland, Devon, had no criminal record before the case.
He said: 'The tool was in my glove box in a pouch, along with a torch, first aid kit and waterproofs.
'It is everything I need for the maintenance of my car or if I break down.
'Now I have a criminal record for the first time in my life. I am upset by that.'
Read more: Disabled caravanner prosecuted for keeping penknife in his car to use on picnics | Mail Online