Personal injury compensation sought by family after foot injury

Posted 21/12/2010

A council is being sued for personal injury compensation after an incident in which a boy’s foot was crushed under a falling sculpture.

The 12-stone Nungate Wheel had been installed on Lammermuir Crescent in Haddington by East Lothian Council in 2000, the Edinburgh Evening News reports.

As seven-year-old John McAlpine ran past it during a game of football in January last year, it fell on to his foot, crushing the bones so severely that doctors could not pin them back together.

He had to spend six weeks in plaster and will need more surgery later in life to repair the damage.

An investigation found that East Lothian Council had failed to adequately maintain the wheel and had not noticed when a fatigue fracture developed that made it vulnerable to falling over.

The organisation received a fine and John’s mum Michelle said she will be seeking personal injury compensation.

She commented: “The main thing for us was that the council pleaded guilty; to say they were at fault is all we were looking for.”

It was reported in July 2010 that a mother was suing Leicester City Council after her toddler was electrocuted by exposed wires in a council car park.