Man suffered life-changing injuries after lamppost fell on him

A man suffered life-changing injuries after a lamppost fell on top of him outside of a school in Glasgow.

Colin Shaw, 50, was struck as he spoke to a colleague near the city's Kelvinside Academy on 20 June 2023.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard how it pinned Mr Shaw to the ground as a car caught onto the lamppost's cable and kept it on him.

Glasgow City Council pled guilty to health and safety breaches over the incident, and apologised to Mr Shaw. The lamppost had not been properly inspected before the accident.

The lamppost - which was twice over its life expectancy - had been due for replacement 11 months after the incident.

The court heard how Mr Shaw had his back to the lamppost, when a colleague saw it fall towards them.

Prosecutor Richard Brown said: "She ran and screamed towards Mr Shaw but it struck him from behind and pinned him face down to the ground.

"The cable attached to lamppost was caught by a passing car which dragged the lamppost over him."

The cable was only removed off him when another car got caught up in it.

Emergency service crews found Mr Shaw conscious but screaming in pain.

The veteran was taken to hospital where he was found to have suffered serious life changing injuries, including multiple spine and rib fractures as well as a fracture to his tibia and ankle.

Mr Shaw had to undergo surgery on some areas twice after the first attempts had failed.

The result of the surgery meant that one of his legs is now shorter than the other.

Mr Brown said Mr Shaw previously had an active lifestyle, but now suffered flashbacks to the incident, which affected his mental health.

An investigation carried out found the lamppost had a service life of 20 to 25 years, but had remained in operation twice over that period.

It was described as being in a "poor condition" and had been due to be replace in April 2024. Its previous inspection was in March 2022.

Sentence was deferred until next month by Sheriff Iain Fleming.

Mr Shaw said: "This accident has had a huge impact on my life and I am pleased it has now come to a conclusion."

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "We are very sorry for this incident and the harm this has caused to Mr Shaw. We accept the lighting column referred to in this case was not properly inspected.

"Following this incident, our approach to the maintenance of the city street lighting network has been updated and improved."

The spokesman said these steps included a more thorough risk assessment of lighting columns.