A TENNIS player who has been locked in a legal dispute with a leisure club for more than eight years has finally lost his battle for compensation.
Terence Connelly suffered serious injury to his arm after he fell when his foot became stuck on a tennis court at David Lloyd leisure club in Renfrew in 2001.
Mr Connelly launched a court action for compensation in 2004 but, following protracted court hearings and several appeals, his case was finally dismissed at the Court of Session in Edinburgh last month.
According to court papers, the injury occurred due to the type of training shoes Mr Connelly was wearing on the club's carpeted court surface.
Mr Connelly claimed the club should have warned him that his shoes, which had a ribbed sole, were not suitable for the surface, but the club claimed they were not aware it was a problem.
He argued signage that was changed after the accident warning players to wear the correct shoes showed the club knew there was a problem, but a sheriff ruled against him.
Mr Connelly went on to appeal against the decision and, in a judgment issued last month, the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Eassie, refused it.
Lord Eassie stated: "The basis of the sheriff's decision was that the appellant had failed to establish that before the accident, the risk that such an accident could result from the wearing of rib soled footwear was known to those involved in operating commercial leisure centres with carpeted tennis courts."
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