B P Collins Solicitors: talk to the experts
Gerrards Cross: +44(0) 1753 889995
Beaconsfield: +44(0) 1494 675363
Related stories
Lawyers go to the top of the class in directories
13 November 2008
Redundancy increases likely, say employers
5 November 2008
New guidance on workplace disputes to be issued
4 November 2008
Bond movie party is just the ticket
31 October 2008
Headteacher's health and safety conviction overturned
22 May 2008
A headteacher of a private school in Wales who was found guilty of health and safety offences following the death of a pupil has had his conviction overturned.
The three-year-old boy had jumped from steps in the playground in June 2004.
He tripped and landed head first and although he did not fracture his skull, he suffered secondary swelling of the brain and died in hospital of MRSA five weeks later.
Last July headteacher James Porter was convicted of failing to take adequate measures to protect the children from the steps. He was fined £12,500 and ordered to pay £7,500 costs.
Mr Porter's barrister challenged the conviction, saying there was nothing to suggest the steps were a risk and there was nothing "reasonably practicable" that could have been done to completely remove the risk of a child jumping from them.
This week the Court of Appeal overturned the decision and Mr Porter's solicitor said the judgement "struck a blow for the teaching profession who would have faced an almost impossible burden had the conviction remained".
In passing his judgement Lord Justice Moses said the boy's death was nothing to do with Mr Porter and that, in health and safety cases, any alleged risk should be real and not just theoretical.
Nick Hallchurch, partner in the litigation and dispute resolution practice, comments: "The court of appeal has embraced common sense in an area of law where the courts have to balance the responsibilities of the providers of education, the resources available to those providers, and the realities of the physical environment in which they operate."
