Boy, 5, crushed by school wall wins payout
A SCHOOLBOY who was crushed when a wall collapsed on him has won a payout from a council.
Max MacPhee was left injured by falling debris at Ben Wyvis Primary School in Conon Bridge near Dingwall, Invernessshire, after leaning on the wall.
The then five-year-old was taken to hospital with a broken leg which now sits 1cm (0.4in) longer than the other.
He had been leaning on the wall when a stone detached and struck him on the right leg, breaking it just below the knee.
Highland Council denied liability throughspent out a civil action but performed a U-turn and offered an out-of-court settlement after the schoolboy’s legal team proved they knew of another debris fall a year before Max was injured in May 2017. The amount is undisclosed. An investigation showed the local authority was made aware of structural concerns at the school in 2016 after a stone fell from the same wall but failed to carry out adequate inspections or repairs.
Max, who is now aged seven, two months in recovery, most of which was spent using a wheelchair or a walking frame.
His bed was placed in his family’s living room as he could not walk up the stairs and for weeks the youngster had to be bathed by hand while lying on top of the kitchen counter because he could not get in the bath.
Max’s mother Louise, 34, said: ‘It’s shocking that Highland Council didn’t have the common decency to hold their hands up and just help a little boy who was hurt by their own failings instead of having the audacity to try to blame him.
‘The council put us through hell, not to mention wasted public money on legal bills, when they could just have done the right thing from day one.’
She added: ‘If there’s any good to come from this then I hope it’s that the council give themselves a serious shake and invest in improving the safety of public areas so people aren’t hurt in the first place.’
David McGowan, associate at Digby Brown’s Inverness office, led the legal action against Highland Council.
He said: ‘This was clearly an accident waiting to happen and it is distressing to consider how much worse Max or anyone else could have been injured.’
A Highland Council spokesman said: ‘It is the council’s policy not to comment on insurance claims.’