potatoes

A prisoner is reportedly suing the prison service after being knocked out by a box of potatoes.

The inmate was helping out in the prison kitchen and had just finished peeling veg when he went to return a bag of carrots to the prison's walk-in fridge.

Mail Online reports that as he bent down to put the carrots down, 11 boxes of potatoes - weighing just over 17-stone in total - fell on his head, knocking him out cold.

According to his solicitors, who have not identified the prisoner or the prison where he is locked up, the inmate was 'knocked for six'.

Solicitor Rhonda Hesling, of Hesling Henriques solicitors, based in West Malling, Kent, said her firm was helping the prisoner in his fight for compensation.

Writing in prisoners' magazine Converse, the solicitor said: 'Our client was employed in the prison kitchens. He was assigned the duty of preparing all the veg for the prison meals.

'He completed all of his tasks for the day and then began clearing up - as part of this process he returned a bag of carrots back to the walk-in fridge.

'Just as he bent down, a huge stack of potato boxes fell on top of him. The potato boxes (weighing about 10kg each) had been stacked in the store room by someone who was in a hurry or by someone who had not been trained properly.

'The total weight of the boxes that fell on our client was later estimated to have been 110kg, so it's not wonder that this spud assault knocked him for six.

'Upon impact he was thrown headlong into a metal shelf and was knocked out cold.'

She said he lay on the floor unconscious until another inmate found him and raised the alarm.

She said: 'Our client came to and was able to confirmed that he had pains in both his back and neck.It was decided that it was way too risky to move our client and as a consequence he was left lying on the floor of the fridge for an hour and a half until the ambulance arrived.

'Once the ambulance arrived they put our client in a neck brace and moved him onto a spinal board to minimised the chance of paralysis.Upon his arrived at hospital he was X-rayed and he was relieved to learn that he had not fractured any bones in his neck or his back that might have led to lasting damage.'

She added: 'That said, he had a badly bruised back and was suffering from muscle spasms and unrelenting headaches.For these symptoms he was prescribed anti-inflammatories, painkillers and was also put on prolonged bed rest.

'Our client clearly remembered a prison officer telling him that the potato boxes had been incorrectly stacked and that whoever it was who stacked them ought to have been supervised.

'It was clear that the prison was responsible for this incident and liability was admitted straight away.We are currently in the process of obtaining medical evidence in support of our client's claim.

'The accident to serves to illustrate the dangers that inmates are exposed to in their places of work when there has been little or no training given to others working alongside them. Such a situation would not be tolerated in any other work place in the country and there can be no justification for prison being an exception to this.'

A Prison Service spokesperson said: 'We robustly defend claims made against the Prison Service where evidence allows, and have managed to successfully defend two thirds of prisoner claims over the last three years.'