Caretaker sues school for £50,000 after fall because he 'was not trained how to use stepladder'

A school caretaker injured falling off a stepladder is seeking up to £50,000 damages - because he 'was not trained to use it'.

Anthony Gower-Smith told a court he had used stepladders for at least 30 years in his previous job as a petrol station owner.

But he claims the accident with the six-foot ladder would not have happened if he had received the right training.

The 73-year-old fell while removing cards and staples from a gym wall at Awbridge Primary School, near Romsey, Hampshire, in January 2004.

He fractured his skull, broke a cheekbone, split a kidney and spent time in intensive care at Southampton General Hospital, Winchester County Court heard.

He is suing Hampshire County Council for liability, claiming his bosses did not train him properly.

Mr Gower-Smith, who is married, says he was never told it was unsafe to place the ladder side-on to the wall he was working on - the position it was in when he fell. He is claiming damages of at least £15,000 and up to £50,000. Hampshire County Council denies negligence.

He said that when he started at the school in October 2002 he received induction training from caretaker support officer Mrs Chris Higgins.

He admitted he had ticked boxes on a form to say he had been trained on ladder safety, but added: 'When you are given something to sign by your superior you just sign it.

'I signed to say I had ladder training but the extent of that was not to stand on the top step and not to go above three metres.

Mr Gower-Smith says he didn't receive training to climb a stepladder similar to this one

I thought that was the extent of ladder training. I didn't know there were other things regarding ladders.'

Mr Gower-Smith denied he was standing on the top step when he fell.

However, the court heard he told police officers called to the scene that he had been on the top platform and that he blamed himself.

He countered: 'I don't remember what I said. I was dazed. But I wasn't on the top step because I had no need to go to the top step.'

Mrs Higgins told the court she had instructed Mr Gower-Smith about the hazards. He was also given a detailed manual on all aspects of his job.

In a defence statement, the council-said Mr Gower-Smith, of North Baddesley, near Southampton, was negligent and 'knew perfectly well how to use a stepladder'.

When asked by the judge, Mr Recorder Christopher Moger QC, if he had a stepladder at home, Mr Gower-Smith said that he did.

Awbridge Primary School has 144 pupils aged four to 11, described in a recent Ofsted report as from 'relatively advantaged backgrounds'.

Mr Recorder Moger's judgment is expected this week.