Tennis player who wore ‘wrong shoes’ denied compensation for injury

Tennis: Terence Connelly sustained serious injuries to his arm when he fell during a game.SWNS

A man who was wearing the "wrong type" of shoes when he fell while playing tennis has been denied compensation for the injury.

Terence Connelly sustained serious injuries to his arm when he fell after one of his rib-soled tennis shoes became "stuck" on a carpeted court at the David Lloyd club, in Arkleston Road, Renfrew, in 2001.

Since 2004, he has been fighting for compensation from the club's owner - Whitbread PLC - arguing they should have known there was a real risk of injury if a player wore anything other than smooth-soled shoes.

But his hopes of receiving a substantial payout were dashed by three judges, who said that a previous court was right to find the accident was not forseeable.

Lord Justice Clerk, sitting at the Court of Session with Lord Bonomy and Lord Philip, refused Mr Connelly's appeal against a decision of the Sheriff Principal to uphold the dismissal of his case at Paisley Sheriff Court in March 2009.

He said it was "unfortunate" Mr Connelly did not have a legal representative at the earlier hearing, because evidence he later found - about the risks of wearing rib-soled footwear on carpeted surfaces - could have had a "significant bearing" on his case.

The judge told the court Mr Connelly came to grief after he and a friend went to the club to play tennis on 30th October, 2001. The indoor tennis court they played on had a carpeted surface, which had been installed the previous year and was of a type widely used throughout the leisure industry.

The court heard there was a sign near the court, which stipulated players should "wear correct footwear and no black-soled shoes", but did not specify any particular type of tennis shoes.

Mr Connelly, who had not played on a carpeted surface before, was wearing rib-soled shoes and his opponent was wearing carpet-slipper tennis shoes - which had no grip on the soles.

When warming up, Mr Connelly found his feet "stuck" to the carpet surface and he and his partner then started to play a match.

Soon afterwards, he moved towards the net to play a volley and his foot jarred to a halt causing him to fall heavily.

The court heard he landed with the whole weight of his body on his left arm and suffered injuries as a result that continue to restrict his life and have caused him considerable loss of earnings.

After his accident, signs were put up at the club, stating "non-marking smooth soled tennis shoes" should be worn on carpet courts.

Mr Connelly initially took his case to Paisley Sheriff Court, where it was dismissed by Sheriff Spy in March 2009, and then to the Sheriff Principal - who upheld the original decision.

Both judges considered there was not enough evidence to demonstrate that Whitbread should have realised there was a risk of injury from playing tennis on a carpeted surface with anything other than smooth-soled shoes.

In a last-ditch bid to get compensation for his injuries, Mr Connelly challenged the Sheriff Principal's ruling at the Court of Session, but his case was again dismissed.

Lord Justice Clerk said it was "unfortunate" that fresh evidence relating to the state of knowledge in the leisure industry of risks involved in the use of rib-soled footwear on carpeted playing surfaces had been put forward "far too late".

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