A train driver is suing London Underground for up to £1 million after a bang on his head at work has left him with ‘unprompted bouts of rudeness’.
Sean Matthews, 62, hit his head on metal steps at Stratford Market Depot when he was thrown from a rotating train station turnstile.
After sustaining a brain injury in the incident, Matthews says he now suffers from behavioural, cognitive and emotional symptoms, which also include ‘laughing inappropriately’.
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He blames the accident on the turnstile being faulty, but London Underground Ltd denies liability for his injury - claiming the revolving gate was working properly and that Matthews should have taken more care.
Outlining the claim in documents filed at the High Court, Matthews’ barrister Jeremy Crowther explained that the fall happened after his client finished a shift on 26 February 2019, having parked his train at the depot before passing through a security turnstile to catch a train back to Stratford.
Crowther said: "He entered the turnstile and began pushing the gate in a clockwise direction.
"The gate began ratcheting around - as it was supposed to - but instead of locking when the claimant was in a position to leave the turnstile, it suddenly and without warning continued to rotate.
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"This caused the section of gate immediately behind the claimant to knock into the back of his left foot, causing him to lose his balance and stumble forwards.
"As he fell he struck his head on one of the metal steps of the bridge that was immediately in front of him."
Matthews, of Yalding near Maidstone, Kent, sustained a fracture to his forearm, soft tissue injury to his knee and also required crown replacement after damaging his teeth.
Crowther continued: "Most significantly, he sustained a brain injury, causing a variety of neurological symptoms including headaches, dizziness, impaired memory and speech problems.
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"He suffers from behavioural, cognitive and emotional symptoms. He has become disinhibited, prone to laughing inappropriately and unprompted bouts of rudeness.
"He has become very socially isolated and is unable to work.”
Crowther claimed the accident happened because the turnstile at the depot hadn’t locked into place to allow Matthews to exit, meaning he instead continued to turn and it crashed into him.
He says fault logs show the gate had previously been reported as ‘defective’ due to it ‘spinning freely’ when inspected.
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"The accident wouldn't have happened if the claimant had been aware the turnstile gate was turning freely when he entered it, as in these circumstances he would have made sure it had stopped rotating before exiting," Crowther said.
"The accident occurred because the gate initially ratcheted correctly, but then suddenly failed when the claimant was walking out of the turnstile.
"The turnstile should have been deactivated no later than 16th February 2019, rather than left in a malfunctioning state."
In a written defence to the claim, which has not yet reached court, London Underground Ltd denies liability.
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The company’s barrister John Brown said the turnstile was always set up to be ‘free-flowing’ when exiting the depot, and that it only locked into place when being used to enter.
Brown said: "As the turnstile was free flowing upon exit, it is denied that it was supposed to lock when the claimant was in a position to leave the turnstile.
"It is therefore further denied that the turnstile 'suddenly and without warning' continued to rotate as alleged.
"At the time of the claimant’s accident, upon exit the turnstile was in proper working order.
"Any issue with the turnstile having an intermittent fault in failing to lock related only to its use when entering the depot and therefore has no causative relevance to the claimant’s accident."
Matthews’ case will be heard at a later date.
Topics: UK News
Jess Hardiman