£5m ‘welly–wanging claim rejected

Published on 14/08/2012 01:33

A TEACHER who was left paralysed after breaking his neck in a freak welly-wanging accident on a school trip has lost his High Court claim for more than £5 million in damages.

A judge ruled: “Extremely sad though it be, this was a tragic and freak accident for which no blame can be established.”

Glennroy Blair-Ford, 45, was on a school trip on Dartmoor in April 2007 when he took part in a “Mini Olympics” event.

One game involved throwing Wellington boots, with the teachers handicapped by having to throw backwards through their legs. But the former head of design and technology at Wilmington Enterprise College, Dartford, Kent, swung his boot and was propelled head-first to the ground. He fractured his neck and is now confined to a wheelchair.