Prisoner wins cash for slip on pitch

An inmate who was injured while playing football in prison has received £1,500 damages from the Home Office.

David Horay, 24, successfully sued at Liverpool County Court after receiving facial injuries when he slipped on the Astroturf pitch at Walton jail, Liverpool, in June 1993 and crashed into an unpadded security lighting pole. His counsel said the pole should have been further away and padded, and that Mr Horay should have been provided with special boots, not plimsolls. The Home Office spent £250,000 on the pitch, but it did not buy the appropriate boots.

Judge John Morgan found for Mr Horay five months ago on the grounds of negligence and breach of statutory duty, but the case was adjourned for the amount of damages to be considered. The £1,500 was an out-of-court settlement. Mr Horay, of Walton, Liverp

o ol, has now been released from a three-year sentence for burglary and aggravated vehicle-taking.