28/09/2010 - Teacher in court after student fall
A Merseyside head teacher has appeared in court after he took a group of "slightly inebriated" students onto the roof, where one of them fell through a skylight.
Joel Murray, 18 at the time, fractured his skull, broke his ribs, perforated an eardrum and suffered permanent damage to his eye after being taken on to the roof at Sacred Heart Catholic College in Crosby.
In August 2008, head teacher John Summerfield, 65, took 10 or 12 students on to the roof to show them the results of renovations to the building.
The students had just received their A-level results and had been enjoying an evening party to celebrate their success when Joel tumbled 2.5 metres into a corridor, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Kevin Donnelly described the evening party as a "restrained affair" as the students had consumed no more than "one or two" bottles of beer or glasses of wine.
Mr Donnelly told the court that he had warned the teenagers not to go near the fragile skylight, but Joel had placed his foot on it before falling through.
Mr Donnelly said: "Nobody was drunk but it is possible they were slightly affected by drink, possibly slightly inebriated."
Summerfield denies breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act by failing to take reasonable care for the safety of his students.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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