A former scout who was injured during a game has had his compensation award upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Mark Barnes, now 23, was injured when he was 13 while playing a game called ‘objects in the dark’ with other members of his scout group. The game, which was being supervised by three adults, involves wooden blocks being left in the middle of the floor – one less than the number of participants – and the lights being turned off, at which point each player must retrieve a block to stay in the game.
In his attempt to find one of the blocks, Mr Barnes stumbled into a bench standing against the wall and suffered a permanent injury to his shoulder.
When the case came before the County Court, the judge found that the Scout Association had breached its duty of care to the boy, as playing the game with the lights off was too dangerous. Mr Barnes was awarded compensation of £7,322.
The Association appealed against the ruling.
The Court of Appeal held, by a two-to-one majority, that the lower court’s decision was correct. The game could easily have been played with the lights on, in which case the injury would probably have been avoided. The dissenting judge was not satisfied that the judge in the lower court had weighed the risk of injury posed by the game against the social benefits of the activity. The other two judges disagreed, however. In their view, consideration had been given to the increased social value of playing the game in the dark as opposed to with the lights on and the judge in the lower court had found that it was negligible.
Mr Barnes’ compensation award was therefore upheld.
If you have been injured through no fault of your own whilst taking part in a leisure or sporting activity, you may be entitled to compensation. It is important to take advice early on as there are time limits that apply when making a claim for compensation.
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