Scott Palmer Wins Appeal

[cornishteddyboy]

From the BBC Website

Thursday 21st May

Injured schoolboy wins eye appeal

A Cornish schoolboy who was hit in the eye by a stone thrown during school playtime could now sue Cornwall Council over the incident.

Scott Palmer said he had his hopes of becoming a professional goalkeeper shattered by the injury at Tretherras School, Newquay, in July 2001.

A fellow pupil had unintentionally hit him in the eye during break time.

Judges at the Appeal Court in London overruled a previous decision dismissing a claim against the council.

The judges heard that two dinner ladies had been supervising hundreds of children.

'Effectively unsupervised'

Hundreds of Year 9 and 10 children at Tretherras were on their break period when a boy aimed a stone at a seagull but hit Scott, then aged 14.

There were just two dinner ladies on duty to supervise up to 400 pupils on the school playing field, which the judges said was clearly negligent.

The judges said the children had been "effectively unsupervised".

Mr Palmer, who is now 22, has suffered problems with his vision since the incident.

Cornwall Council said it was now reviewing arrangements for lunchtime supervision.

The council said it was disappointed at the outcome of the appeal, but accepted the judgment.

[D K]

I'm sure that someone from Newquay can put me straight if incorrect, but I was under the impression that Scott Palmer no longer keeps goal because of back issues?

I personally think this is a sad day for the schools system.

This incident could still have happened if there had been another 10 staff on duty.

It also opens the door for people to abuse the decision and before long there will be a mountain of claims from the parents of children who were hard done by. They have created a real problem in finding the school at fault here.

Ridiculous decision. (IMO)

[Guest The Judge aka RED OR DEAD]

I'm sure that someone from Newquay can put me straight if incorrect, but I was under the impression that Scott Palmer no longer keeps goal because of back issues?

Scott as a youngster (8 yrs ago) was due to sign for Argyle until the 'incident' happened, it effectively put an end to a possible Pro career. To have your footballing dreams crushed due to a repeated childish act which went unchecked, must have been heart breaking for a teenager.

Scotty has played for Newquay and St Blazey as a keeper but a back injury put an end to that, he has now turned into a top SWPL striker.

[soccerfan]

I totally agree that it was a wrong decision.

How can any school make it impossible for accidents to happen in the playground, irrespective of how many staff are on duty.

People will be suing if a child grazes their knee playing tig next.

Or worse, children won't be able to play outside during breaktimes. That certainly would be a crime.

[truros mr mourinho]

I totally agree that it was a wrong decision.

How can any school make it impossible for accidents to happen in the playground, irrespective of how many staff are on duty.

People will be suing if a child grazes their knee playing tig next.

Or worse, children won't be able to play outside during breaktimes. That certainly would be a crime.

i think we should concrete the sea over,just encase someone drowns :blink:

[Guest oldhat]

Slowly but surely the culture of litigation which blights the USA creeps across the water.

[100%cornish]

just heard scott palmer has won his case for compensation how come he managed to play for years in goal if his sight was so badly damaged and he was a very good goalie and now hes not a bad striker ,with him winning his case this will send out bad signals and everybody will be seeking compo now its getting just like america this was a wrong decision for him to get compo if he was that bad he wouldnt of played for newquay in goal and he would never of been good enough for plymouth . :c:

[Guest The Judge aka RED OR DEAD]

You heartless bastards ! Imagine for one moment that you had a son that Argyle wanted to sign and that due to the stupidity of some kid, he could no longer follow a potential Pro football career ?

2 school dinners ladies who were not qualified to look after 400 kids are not to blame, the kid throwing the stones at seagulls not to blame, and the law found that the school/county council failed in their duty to ensure the safety of pupils - if you were a parent, wouldn't you ask questions too ?

No mention of compensation in the report by the way, just that the old county council were found quilty of negligence.

Don't knock Scott, he was 14 at the time and any legal proceedings would have been made on his behalf.

[soccerfan]

Wasn't knocking Scott at all.

Just criticising the courts decision.

Obviously 2 lunchtime staff wasn't enough for that many students but it has since been addressed. But even if there were 102 the incident still could have happened.

I'm just concerned that this will open the floodgates and make any out of school activities a thing of the past.

Tretherras is an excellent school and is only one of a few in the county that still organise sports tours abroad and camps at home. I would hate to see these opportunities disappear.

[D K]

Bumped into an old P.E teacher a few weeks back and discovered an horrific fact.

Remember wearing your kit at the bus stop on Saturday mornings carrying only your boot bag and a smile?

I was gutted to learn after reminiscing about these trips that they no longer exist and were knocked on the head by schools about 5 years ago.

Making the Saturday squad was a macho thing for all the girlies we were impressing at the time and the experiences of comradery far outweighed the after school emotions.

All teams from all year groups were crammed onto a 52 seater and I believe it helped the younger lads find common ground with the older kids and allowed them to integrate into their new environment so much quicker as well.

Dominated by H&S nowadays, they could not get the extra staff to give up spare time on Saturday mornings and so it fell away.

P.E teachers (IMO) were gods when we were growing up.

If you had an interest in sport, you would do whatever it took to impress these people and they were the first set of teachers that gave a bit of respect back if you acheived or put the effort in.

It doesnt require an army to look after sports teams. P.E teacher says behave and for fear of the drop, or only 20 mins...........You shut your mouth!

The kids now dont realise what they are missing but the system has robbed them of experiences that are key in grass roots development. I am devastated to think that todays budding players will not experience these days. Playing for Polkerris was good but never created the same feeling of "one in, all in" that school football did.

Its a shame and 15 years ago, this decision would have been laughed out of court.

I'm not knocking Scott either, I dont know the bloke.

Gary Turner had a trial with Liverpool in his late teens though so how can the court rule that his days were numbered as a potential pro at the age of 14?

I can only assume we may not know all the facts.

[cornish-blue]

soil sports,

it is a shame, we lived for those wed; afternoons when the team sheet went up and then the wait for sat mornings and the meet up with yr mates,

goes to show what we are letting this country is become

:c:

[Guest Sam Boston]

People will be suing if a child grazes their knee playing tig next.

Showing your age there soccerfan!!

Looking at the situation generally (and not with regard to Scott in particular) I think the system has gone mad nowadays to the point where people are going out of their way to look for situations they can put themselves in so that they can sue. When I was a kid if you slipped on a cabbage leaf in Tesco or tripped over a sticking out paving slab then it was your own fault for not looking where you were going. People would have been too embarrased to stand up in public and say that they'd tripped over in the street, now they can't shout loud enough. I am happy to say my kids have fallen out of trees, slipped over from running down hill too fast and fallen in streams so many times I have lost count. Yet they are happy sociable children who know (usually) to tread carefully at first and make sure something is safe rather than having the family solicitors phone number on speed dial becuase they're too molly-coddled to look where they're going.

[The Villains]

Bumped into an old P.E teacher a few weeks back and discovered an horrific fact.

Remember wearing your kit at the bus stop on Saturday mornings carrying only your boot bag and a smile?

I was gutted to learn after reminiscing about these trips that they no longer exist and were knocked on the head by schools about 5 years ago.

Dominated by H&S nowadays, they could not get the extra staff to give up spare time on Saturday mornings and so it fell away.

It was longer than 5 years ago, more like 12 - 15 years, it was when/after the teachers went on strike. The tearchers I have known qouted why give up any more saturdays when THEY can spend it with their own family! It may be H&S now but it wasnt the reason back then.