One fifty five year old crane drier is seeking personal injury compensation for the life changing injuries he suffered in the crash disaster at Chandlers Wharf, legal experts recently reported.
Woolton, Merseyside native, Iain Gillham, was thrown from the cabin of his tower crane when it toppled over during a Liverpool city centre building project, sending him plummeting two hundred feet and leaving him paralysed from the waist down. The crane, which came into contact with a half-built apartment block at Chandlers Wharf, broke a hole in the roof of the building, and Mr Gillham slipped through the hole as he fell from his cabin, sustaining massive injuries in the incident, including the major spinal damage that led to his paralysis, a number of broken bones, a brain haemorrhage, and a fractured skull.
The Health and Safety Executive launched an investigation to the incident, discovering that the foundation of the crane had actually been subject to alteration in such a way that it was incapable of withstanding the massive stresses that it was subject to as Mr Gillham operated the machine. The two construction firms involved with the construction project were brought before a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court, found guilt of health and safety breaches after three week trial.
One construction firm that went into voluntary liquidation just after the incident, Bingham Davis Ltd, was given a nominal fine of £1,000. However, the other firm, Bowmer and Kirkland Ltd, was given a massive fine of £280,000.
Mr Gillham’s personal injury claims are yet to be completely settled, according to a member of his legal team. However, any compensation he is awarded will go towards his medical care, as his injuries are permanent.