Fairground Ride Collapse Injures 10 People

Two men have each been fined £2000 after 10 people were hurt following the collapse of a fairground ride in Suffolk. Fairground owner Walter Shufflebottom was found guilty of failing to properly maintain the fairground, while Inspector Frederick Meakin, of the Fairground Inspection Services in Leicestershire, had examined the ride on which the incident occurred on two occasions.

According to the BBC, both men admitted safety breaches over the incident, which occurred in Long Melford in November 2007.

The incident involved several cars on the Hellraiser ride coming loose and crashing in to each other. One of the injured parties, a woman aged 24, suffered multiple injuries including broken ribs.

Judge David Goodin, of Ipswich Crown Court, stated that Shufflebottom and Meakin had “sacrificed safety for commercial gain” and that the ride itself was “riddled with defects arising from its age and from inadequate or botched running of the repairs.”

Mr Meakin had declared the ride as operational four months prior to the accident and following the hearing Health and Safety Executive inspector Martin Kneebone commented “This incident could have proved fatal.

“The Hellraiser ride was in a very poor state of repair and should not have been operating at the event.”

Safety should always be of paramount concern with high speed rides such as this and it is reckless behaviour from the fairground owner to not have maintained a 30 year old ride which is obviously going to need work on a relatively regular basis to keep it fully operational. As for inspector Meakin, by not performing his role in identifying the outstanding flaws and dangers that the ride posed he showed little regard for the wellbeing and safety of users and it is difficult to imagine him retaining his position following this verdict.