Adventure playground in Curdridge found guilty after failing to protect visitors
AN OUTDOOR adventure playground in Curdridge has been found guilty of health and safety offences after an 11-year-old girl was left unconscious.
Fairthorne Manor, a YMCA centre, was found guilty by a jury at Portsmouth Crown Court.
It comes after the girl was rendered unconscious when her neck became tangled in the safety equipment after falling from the Burma rope bridge in July 2012. She was left suspended by the safety equipment until she was cut free.
She was flown by air ambulance to hospital where she was put into an induced coma. The girl made a full recovery.
The incident was investigated by Winchester City Council environmental health officers.
A prosecution was brought against YMCA Fairthorne Group for failing to ensure the safety of those in its care and failing to ensure their employees had received adequate health and safety training.
The jury delivered a guilty verdict for failing to deliver on its general duty to protect the health and safety to persons other than their employees, but was unable to reach a verdict on whether they had or had not provided adequate training for employees.
The case will return to court on November 3 for sentencing.