One young boy was recently awarded £1,750 in personal injury compensation after he was given a nasty electric shock by a faulty hair dryer at an East London leisure centre, it was recently reported.
Harley Sutton-Dorner, five years old, had been at the Belhus Park Leisure Centre with his family, enjoying a day’s swimming, at the time of the incident. Young Harley’s injuries occurred inside the changing rooms at the centre, located in South Ockendon, Thurrock, as he was electrocuted upon picking up and turning on a hair dryer. An article appearing in the Thurrock Gazette newspaper reported that the five year old sustained an electrical burn to one of his side that nearly set his clothes ablaze, escaping more serious harm only due to the insulation offered to him by the plastic shoes he was wearing at the time, as they prevented the electric jolt he received from grounding itself through his feet – a fate that others facing electrocution injuries are not so lucky to avoid.
Danielle Sutton, Harley’s twenty seven year old mother, said in an interview that her young boy has been suffering from nightmares since the accident to the point where he wouldn’t set foot near any location where he would have to go swimming for nearly six months following the incident. Impulse Leisure Ltd, the owners and operators fo the leisure centre, admitted to breaching health and safety violations at a hearing at Basildon Magistrates’ Court, incurring fines and court costs at a combined total of £7,425, while separate personal injury claims made by the family saw the young boy awarded £1,750 in damages.
The company also issued an apology to the young boy.