Glasgow flat fall man saved by builders’ net

The High Court in Glasgow heard John McGurk was lucky to survive the fall. Picture: PA

But the 20-year-old’s life was saved when a safety net belonging to construction workers broke his fall.

The remarkable escape emerged at the trial of two men charged with the attempted murder of Mr McGurk.

Kenneth Wilson and Jamie Rodger had faced a charge that included an allegation that Mr McGurk was forced out of the 14th-floor window, leading to him falling.

However, prosecutors dropped the charge midway through the trial, resulting in Wilson and Rodger being acquitted.

A jury heard how Mr McGurk had been at the towerblock flat with Wilson, 48, and Rodger, 20, in November last year. Mr McGurk claimed that he was assaulted and escaped on to the windowsill outside the property.

It was said he then lowered himself down and hung on to the ledge by his fingertips.

Mr McGurk claimed he could not recall what happened next, until he woke up in a hospital bed. It emerged he had fallen from the window, plummeting towards the ground.

However, he crashed on to plywood near the bottom of the high-rise before dropping on to a safety net, avoiding certain death.

A source close to the case said: “This man was so lucky no matter how he ended up outside on the ledge.

“If he had fallen from flats either side, he would have been dead. He would have clattered into the metal scaffolding or some of the other building equipment.

“But he had an almost clean drop and the net was a lifesaver.”

The jury did not hear the full extent of Mr McGurk’s injuries. However, it is believed he suffered multiple broken bones and spent a considerable period in hospital.

He was on crutches as he gave evidence at the High Court in Glasgow more than six months after the incident.

The high-rise flats in Glenavon Road are where a toddler plummeted to his death in 2004.

Ross MacPhail – aged 17 months – died after he fell from a fifth- floor window.