Boy injured at school has his claim rejected

The High Court dismissed his action after finding that he had trespassed on the closed premises as an 11-year-old child.

Ruling that he had been owed no duty of care by the school’s owners, a judge also rejected claims that it had created a trap for children playing in the area.

Mr Justice Deeny said: “I see no element of concealment or cloaking of a danger on the part of the occupier here.”

The boy, now 16, sued over an incident at Barbour Nursery School in Lisburn in March 2010. He was playing with friends on adjacent ground when their ball was kicked over seven ft high wire fencing into the school.

He tried to scale the barrier but slipped on to wire protruding from the top, sustaining a “significant” hand injury.

Proceedings were brought against the Southern Education and Library Board, with damages agreed at £40,000 if liability was established.

In evidence the boy said there was now a sign on the school gates stating ‘No ball games’.

He accepted there had been some risk in climbing over a fence erected to stop break-ins and realised it was not permitted.

It was claimed that a “spike” had caused his injury.

An engineer called at trial acknowledged the wires had not been sharpened but merely cut.