A CAR park security officer has told a court how he rushed to try and rescue a child who had been hit on the head and fatally injured by a concrete bollard at the Royal Highland Show.
James Garry, 50, was on duty at the event at Ingliston in June 2008 when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a young child slip, then grab hold of a rope before being hit by the bollard. The security officer ran over to find three-year-old Ben Craggs lying on his back bleeding.
Mr Garry and Ben's father, Jonathan, lifted the bollard off the youngster, who was taken to the Royal Hospital For Sick Children, Edinburgh, where he was pronounced dead.
The security officer was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of The Royal Highland And Agricultural Society, which faces eight charges under the Health And Safety At Work Act, including failing to ensure the health and safety of Ben. The Society has entered a plea of not guilty to all the charges.
Ben was at the show with his father, and mother, Dawn, from Sedgefield, County Durham, who were showing cattle from their farm.
Mr Garry told Edinburgh Sheriff Court that on the afternoon of the show's opening day, June 19, he was on duty at gate six near a car park where Mr Craggs had parked his lorry after dropping off the cattle.
Mr Garry, who worked part-time at the show, said: "Out the corner of my eye I saw this young child in the car park. I just saw this wee boy walking out from the side of the truck. He went under the rope, turned back, slipped, and grabbed the rope. The bollard landed on his head.
"I went to try and get it off. He was lying on his back, facing towards the truck."
Mr Garry said within seconds he was joined by Ben's father and they managed to lift the bollard.
"How was Ben?" asked Fiscal Depute Alasdair MacLeod.
"Still," said Mr Garry.
"Was he bleeding?" asked the fiscal.
"Yes, from his mouth, his nose and his eyes," Mr Garry replied.
The court has heard the concrete bollards at the car park were about four feet high and were joined together with rope.
A previous witness, Alexander King, 66, who was working at the showground with Hertz Rent A Car, said smaller bollards were fixed in the ground, but the larger ones were not. They were joined by a blue rope like a clothes line and were on gravel and not on the Tarmac road surface.
Peter Gray, QC, representing the Society, asked Mr Garry if he had seen a horse box trailer where the lorries were. He said he had and it had been placed in front of the lorry next to Mr Craggs' vehicle. It had been placed between the bollards and the front of the vehicle, he said.
The QC asked if the trailer had been placed there before or after the accident and was told before.
Mr Gray asked: "To get that trailer into that area would that have involved removing the bollards or the rope?"
"Both," said Mr Garry.
The QC asked if something like a horse box trailer was allowed there. "No, just trucks," said Mr Garry.
Mr Gray asked: "Did you know after the tragic incident of June 19 if the owner of the horse box trailer ever came forward?"
"I don't know," replied Mr Garry.
Ben died from his injuries in the Royal Hospital For Sick Children six days from his fourth birthday.
It is alleged The Royal Highland And Agricultural Society failed to ensure movable concrete bollards at the showground were stabilised by clamping or otherwise as was necessary for the purposes of health and safety on June 19, 2008.
Other charges allege the Society failed to take action over defects in its health and safety arrangements that were drawn to its attention by health and safety consultants.
The trial continues.
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