Paralysed woman’s ex-lover tells of fall

The former lover of a woman left paralysed after she was “catapulted” from her bed during sex has told the High Court he laughed at her fall – before realising she was seriously hurt.

John Marshall said he saw Claire Busby roll backwards off the bed with her feet in the air “in slow motion”, after she had shifted her position.

In a witness statement yesterday, the 55-year-old, from Alloa, said: “I didn’t see how she landed and at first I laughed, not realising that she had hurt herself.

“I was expecting her to get up and when she didn’t I laughed and said ‘get up’, but she said that she had hurt herself.

“She said she could not feel her arms and legs, I thought she was joking and I laughed.

“This was the worst thing that had ever happened to me in my life and affected me very badly.”

Ms Busby, 46, of Maidenhead, Berkshire, suffered a serious injury to her spine after falling from the bed in August 2013.

The businesswoman claims the bed was in a “defective state” and is suing Berkshire Bed Company, trading as Beds Are Uzzz, which supplied it.

The firm denies liability and is contesting the case, arguing the bed was properly assembled.

Ms Busby alleges that the two divans that made up the base of the bed were not properly fastened together and two “gliders” – or feet – were missing from the end of the bed, creating a height difference.

Her barrister Winston Hunter QC said she expected the mattress to support her weight as she lay back on the bed, but it failed to and she continued moving “backwards and downwards”.

Neil Block QC, for the firm, said: “It is overwhelmingly likely that, whatever her actions, they were too close to the edge of the bed and she simply lost balance and toppled backwards.”

The hearing continues.

This was the worst thing that had ever happened to me in my life and affected me very badly