FELL FROM ROOF

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30827, 12 August 1965, Page 10

FELL FROM ROOF

£7500 Claimed As Damages The hearing of evidence in a claim by Johannes Cornelius Kokshoorn, aged 40. a carpenter. for general damages of £7500 against John Calder, Ltd., a construction company, was begun before Mr Justice Wilson and a jury in the Supreme Court yesterday. The claim arose from injuries suffered by Kokshoorn in an accident while employed by the company. Mr B. McClelland, with him Mr E. O. Sullivan, appeared for Kokshoorn. Mr R. P. Thompson, with him Mr C. B. Atkinson, appeared for John Calder, Ltd, In his opening address, Mr McClelland said Kokshoorn was knocked from the roof of the road tunnel toll plaza on February 11. 1964, while employed as a carpenter by John Calder, Ltd. He pitched 14ft head first into a concrete pit and fractured both bones in the right forearm. Mr McClelland said that another man had slipped and knocked Kokshoorn off the roof. Liability Admitted ' The claim for damages was based on negligence, and the company admitted liability. The issue was one of amount only. He said Kokshoorn was unable to rotate his forearm to any degree, his grip was weakened, and his fingers were not as nimble as before. Since the accident he had had to take lighter work with another company as a maintenance carpenter. Kokshoorn’s loss of £5 in his weekly wage was likely to be permanent. It was also likely that in five to 10 years he would have to have a wrist operation to relieve the pain. If the operation was successful the pain would diminish, but the wrist joint would be completely stiffened.