Fair attendant fined over girl’s head-first fall

A FAIRGROUND attendant pleaded guilty to breaking health and safety rules after a teenager plunged head-first onto concrete when a safety bar opened on a ride at a York carnival.

The 13-year-old girl escaped serious injury despite falling four metres from the Cliffhanger Miami Trip ride at the Copmanthorpe Carnival last July, as her friends watched helplessly.

The Health and Safety Executive, prosecuting, told Selby Magistrates’ Court that attendant Terry Reynolds, 28, of Dewsbury, failed to make sure the safety bar on the young girl’s seat was locked in the closed position, despite being told the same bar had opened two rides earlier.

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Less than a minute after the ride started, the safety bar opened and the girl slid underneath, hitting the ground. She was taken to hospital where she was treated for cuts and bruises.

Reynolds was yesterday given a three-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £750 compensation to the injured girl.