One young woman has filed an accident claim against the owner of a swimming pool after she injured herself diving into it at a late night party for a total of £6 million in personal injury compensation.
23 year old Kylie Grimes injured herself after diving into David Hawkins’ indoor pool one evening. The Farnham, Surrey native claims that Mr Hawkins is responsible for the injuries she sustained under the Occupiers’ Liability Act.
Mr Hawkins, who works at a forklift truck business as a managing director, denies any breach of his duties or negligence, instead claiming that he cannot be held liable for Ms Grimes act of jumping head-first into the pool’s shallow end. Mr Hawkins’ accident solicitor stated that Ms Grimes’ actions involved an obvious risk to her own safety.
When appearing at London’s High Court, the wheelchair-bound Ms Grimes stated that the August 2006 accident and the circumstances surrounding it were a disaster just waiting to happen. Mrs Justice Thirlwall was told that either putting up warning notices or locking the pool house could have averted the incident, as Mr Hawkins and his wife had gone out for the evening but granted their daughter Katie permission to have two of her friends over.
Ms Hawkins recounted to the court how she had phoned her father to seek permission to add an additional three friends into the mix. However nearly 20 people ended up coming back to the house from the pub. Admitting that she had been slightly under the influence, Ms Hawkins also stated that there were quite a few guests that had a bit too much as well. However she denied inviting Ms Grimes specifically and additionally stated she had no expectation for people to go swimming that evening. Fearful of their safety, Ms Hawkins had turned the lights on.