Pair fined after 11 customers broke backs at Flip Out trampoline park

Two men who ran a trampoline park where 270 people were injured - including 11 breaking their backs - have been handed a community order and a fine.

An inquiry was launched after medics at the local A&E raised concerns over the number of people needing treatment after visiting Flip Out in Chester.

Matthew Melling, of Manchester, and David Shuttleworth, of Stoke, were directors of the Chester franchise.

The pair, aged 34, admitted an offence under the Health and Safety Act.

Chester Crown Court heard how injuries were reported the day after the park opened on 10 December 2016 but there was no evidence to show the company did anything to reduce the risk of injury.

Among those injured were 120 people who suffered facial injuries with one woman suffering a severe tear that might require cosmetic surgery in the future.

Melling and Shuttleworth were present during a number of the incidents involving the tower jump - 17ft 3ins (5.3m) in height - between December 2016 and February 2017.

Injuries were sustained when visitors, many of whom were children, jumped from three different levels into a foam pit below, the court heard.

The directors, who are now both earning about £80,000 each working as business consultants, had assumed the set-up from another Flip Out centre in Stoke could be applied to the jump in Chester.

But health and safety checks, including risk assessments and ensuring the safety of the foam landing, were not sufficient, the court heard.

During the two months the jump was open, about 200,000 people visited the attraction on Chester Gates Business Park.

Sentencing the pair, Justice Leeming said "lives had been ruined by what happened at Flip Out".

He said the men had a "cavalier approach to health and safety" with some of the injured "left with years of pain and suffering and genuine concerns about their futures".

He told the court Melling and Shuttleworth had "both expressed regret and remorse" and were not on site every day so they were not "aware of the steady stream of injuries".

But he added: "If you were old enough to run a business, you were old enough to take on health and safety responsibilities."

Shuttleworth was ordered to pay a fine of £6,500 and court costs of £50,000 while Melling was fined £6,300 and pay costs of £10,000 after both admitted being an employer or self-employed person who failed to discharge a general health and safety duty to a person other than an employee.

The pair were also handed a 12-month community order involving 250 hours of unpaid community service.

Justice Leeming said he was passing sentence on the basis the two defendants were negligent rather than committing deliberate acts or cost cutting at the expense of safety.

The defendants' company, Shuttleworth and Melling Ltd, went into liquidation in 2021. A number of personal injury claims are being pursued or have already been settled.

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