Presenter wins £1.6m from BBC for ‘crash test dummy’ injuries
A TV presenter hurt while acting as a “crash test dummy” for a science show was yesterday awarded £1.6million from the BBC – which earned a ticking off from the judge.
Jeremy Stansfield, 50, had been strapped into a go-kart-like rig while making Bang Goes The Theory about child car-seat safety.
He claimed he suffered brain and spine injuries, losing more than £3million in future earnings.The BBC disputed the extent of his injuries and his earnings claim.
But Mrs Justice Yip told the High Court: “I must say that I find it astonishing that anyone thought that this exercise was a sensible idea. On his own account to camera, the claimant was simulating a road traffic collision of the sort that commonly causes injury.
“Indeed, in the finished piece, he rather prosaically observes, ‘I wouldn’t recommend this’. Equally, there was evidence the BBC actively sought advice, was warned of the danger, yet allowed the experiment to proceed.”
Jeremy – who used the name Jem while co-presenting alongside the likes of Maggie Philbin – had been strapped into the rig which was propelled along a track into a post. The aim was to replicate a car hitting a lamppost for the BBC One show in 2013.
The crashes were performed forwards and backwards twice each.
Mrs Justice Yip said: “While none of the physical injuries were particularly severe, the combined effect together with a psychiatric reaction have caused a constellation of symptoms and problems which have produced a significant impairment in the claimant’s functioning.The effect has been to derail [his] successful career in television as well as to restrict his life enjoyment generally.”
She awarded him £1,617,286 in yesterday’s ruling, which followed a High Court trial.
Mrs Justice Yip revealed both parties agreed Mr Stansfield, who has an engineering background, should recover “two-thirds of the damages”.
She added: “There is strong evidence that prior to the crash tests he was an exceptionally fit man. There are clips of him balancing and walking on his hands and scaling a building using vacuum gloves he created.
“In 2012, the BBC required him to undergo a physical assessment before undertaking a project involving a human powered aircraft, which he had designed.
“The results suggested he was performing at the level of a competitive athlete.”
The BBC said later: “We keep safety measures on set under constant review and we made adjustments following the incident in 2013. We wish Mr Stansfield the best.” Bang Goes The Theory ran from 2009 to 2014.