Safety officer loses claim over failed hotel balcony leap
A HEALTH and safety officer who fell trying to jump between two balconies while at a holiday hotel has failed in his bid to sue the holiday operator.
Philip Clay, his wife Valerie and his father and mother had gone on a package holiday at the four-star Guayarmina Princess hotel in Costa Adeje in the south of the island of Tenerife in July 2011 when the incident happened.
After putting their children to bed, Mr Clay joined his wife and his parents on their balcony for a drink when they heard the door close behind them, locking them out. After failing to attract anyone’s attention for more than half an hour, Mr Clay decided to clamber across a 2ft 7in gap from his parents’ balcony back to his own room.
However, he fell 20ft on to the terrace below, London’s Appeal Court heard yesterday. He suffered a fractured skull and remained unconscious in a “pool of blood” for half an hour as his horrified wife and parents screamed for help. Eventually he was discovered by hotel staff.
Mr Clay, a fire safety officer at an oil refinery in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales, sued holiday firm TUI for compensation after he claimed both the ledge and the door lock were defective and dangerous.
However, the court ruled that Mr Clay, who has since recovered, had taken an obvious risk and that the travel company, formerly Thomson, could not be blamed.
Last year, his original claim had been dismissed “with regret” by Judge Seys Llewellyn QC at Cardiff County Court.
He ruled that the ledge did not have to be weight-bearing and conformed to local safety standards.
He added that even if the door lock had snapped shut too easily, it had not caused the accident.
Even if the lock was defective, there was no fire or other emergency and it did not pose “a direct danger” to Mr Clay or his family.
Dismissing Mr Clay’s appeal against that ruling yesterday, Lords Justice Hamblen and Kitchin ruled there were no grounds for challenging the judge’s conclusions.
Lord Justice Moylan said that he would have upheld Mr Clay’s claim, but was overruled by the other two judges.