A SHAMED BOSS who tried to cover up what happened when four children shattered their legs at his filthy trampoline park escaped prison.
Philip Booth, 60, refused to tell authorities when a three-year-old boy and girl, as well as two girls, ages nine and eleven, were injured.
The kids had fractured their legs while jumping on trampolines and into foam pits at Cardiff, Wales’ American-themed Supajump.
Booth was spared jail at Cardiff Crown Court, instead receiving a 10-month sentence suspended for 18 months.
He was also hit with a £20,000 charge, £10,000 for court fees, and £10,000 for the company’s share.
Booth previously pled guilty to four counts of failing to report an accident that resulted in a hospitalization.
In addition, the CEO agreed to two charges of failing to guarantee that individuals were not exposed to health and safety concerns when utilizing play equipment.
Six distinct events happened on the premises between August 2017 and August 2019 that wounded children, according to Cardiff Crown Court.
An eight-year-old girl was “covered in blood” after falling through a space between an airbag and the floor and hitting her head.
Booth subsequently told her mother, “It’s just a graze,” as she struggled to breathe while pinned under the airbag.
One child shattered two bones in her leg after falling into a foam pit and colliding with a hard item beneath.
Another youngster, a three-year-old girl, had her leg plastered up to her hip after breaking it in the park.
Another young woman sustained a spinal injury at the trampoline park, according to the court, although Booth was not accused in that instance.
Because they had not received first aid training, the staff merely supplied a damp towel or an ice pack.
When investigators went to the foam pit, they discovered that it had not been cleaned.
“When the foam cubes were removed, there was no maintenance or cleaning for months,” stated Prosecutor Carl Harrison.
“Among other things, they found socks, cracked plastic cups, a trampoline spring missing, a sanitary towel, coins, electronic equipment, a rolled-up cigarette, and a lighter.”
In addition, officials noticed that some of the 20,000 square feet of trampoline surface lacked cushioning.
Before opening, Booth was visited by regulators and told to conduct an independent safety inspection, but “choose to ignore” the advice, stating that “it is only guidance.”
“Your premises opened in April 2017 and problems soon became apparent – problems that should have been anticipated by you,” Judge Matthew Porter-Bryant told Booth during sentencing.
Facilities and premises like yours should take away danger so that young children can enjoy and experience those activities without running the risk of getting hurt.
individuals believe that those premises and individuals like you have taken all essential safeguards, but in this case, in your case, that faith was misguided.
“It is clear that you, as the controlling mind of that company, took on health and safety advice early on.”
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