3 hurt as tree fails Adelaide School

Eric Frei · 3rd August 2010, 07:53 AM

Both ..... and that is driven from people within the orgs that many are brain washed by.

playfordtree · 8th March 2011, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jadly

..... Life is very difficult and stressful for myself at the moment. My family and friends have been wonderful in their support.

I look forward in telling my side of the story down the track.

regards

John Duthie

Hi John,

we sympathize with your pain mate.
my missus and i were badly burnt in a camping accident 2 1/2 years ago
we still struggle to comprehend how it happened, even now.
We are still recieving rehab and scar management help.

like us, you have probably asked the questions "why me",
"what did i do to deserve such punishment"

unfortunately i have never been able to find the answer.
my only hope is that one day we can find acceptence in what has happened, and that it makes us stronger people.

thank you for joining and taking the time to post, please keep us updated.

wishing you all the best for your recovery
god speed.

regards

simon fitzgerald
playford tree service

jadly · 25th November 2011, 03:48 PM

School failed to remove tree risk | Adelaide Now

The school has pleaded guilty in the Safe Work SA claim.

MY public liability case continues.

Eric Frei · 25th November 2011, 04:28 PM

Thanks for keeping us updated. I have been wondering what has been going on for ages.

Well, whilst it's a winning direction the news is still sad.

Also extremely sad to read this:-

Quote:

A Cedar College spokeswoman said the schoolyard trees had been assessed by "experts" prior to the incident. "We've had the trees assessed, we've had everything in place for the safety of the kids ... unfortunately it's just one of those things; we don't know when a tree is going to fall," she said.

Full story.

Quote:

School failed to remove tree risk
November 25, 2011

The tree that injured three people at Cedar College, Northgate, in 2009. Picture: Michael Milnes

A PRIVATE school will admit responsibility for a falling tree that injured three people, a court heard.

Yesterday, the Industrial Magistrates Court heard Cedar College will admit breaching state safety laws over the September 2009 incident that left one of its sports day spectators a paraplegic.

The Baptist-supported school is being prosecuted over an alleged breach of the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act.

Documents filed by Safework SA allege the breach occurred on the school's Northgate grounds on September 11, 2009.

The papers name the alleged victims as John Alexander Duthie, Brownwen Cox and Bailey Alexander Hames.

"They were attending the Cedar College primary school's sports day when part of a tree fell on them," the papers allege.

"The college failed, so far as it was reasonably practicable, to ensure (they) were safe from injury and risk to their health.

"The college failed to ensure the tree was removed prior to sports day and that, given the wind conditions on the day, activities were not scheduled under or near the tree."

On the day of the incident, the weather office had issued a severe weather warning with northerly wind gusts up to 90km/h. At the time, The Advertiser reported the victims to be a man in his 40s, a woman and a child aged 10.

A Cedar College spokeswoman said the schoolyard trees had been assessed by "experts" prior to the incident. "We've had the trees assessed, we've had everything in place for the safety of the kids ... unfortunately it's just one of those things; we don't know when a tree is going to fall," she said.

Industrial Magistrate Michael Ardlie yesterday adjourned the case until next month for the plea and submissions. He said he understood the college "would be pleading guilty" to the charge.

Eric Frei · 26th November 2011, 01:15 PM

Lots would love to see this place (the forum) shut down.

George Valentine · 11th December 2011, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Frei

Lots would love to see this place (the forum) shut down.

I'm totally god smacked with your comment Eric, and I'm sure that would be other posts, probably before my time, where reasons were given but, I'm not aware of them so, if you could please enlighten me with, who and why some would love to see this place shut down and you out of the job, as I read above.

Links are OK, but if you prefer a PM, I'm all for it...!

Damn, man, what in a heck...!

Cheers
George

John Vander · 13th December 2011, 11:35 AM

You're doing a fine job Eric. Thank you for standing up against the idiocity of society. No doubt your business (and this forum) will outlive the rest. Too many people out there are too damn scared to call a spade a spade. My dad's been in the tractor business for about 40 years, and slugging it out with local bull over the years surely made his hair turn grey early, but he's tough as hell and respected by many. Leaders leave legacies, while cowards leave bull that someone else has to clean up.

You got my respect man!

KevinE · 14th December 2011, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Frei

I know that a Yatala escapee who injured himself won damages .... go back maybe 20 years. Look closely.

There were at least 2 Eric; 1st one was shot while escaping through the fence on Hoods Rd with 4 others during the renovations in around 1985-86. They had an accomplice waiting for them armed in a car that was idling. It was shift change & the 2 chiefs (shift managers) were doing a perimeter patrol, which was the norm back then on shift change. They saw the idling car & investigated, a sawn off SG came out of the window!

They turned to bolt & ran head 1st into the 5 escapees coming through the wire!

Back then, there were tower guards & back then, they were armed; the guy in the tower shot one of them (I know his name

) & dropped him. The crim lost a kidney & successfully sued the guy who shot him (WTF?). The Dept of Correctional Services hung the poor bloke out to dry! No help whatsoever! This is what caused the "Correctional Officers Legal Fund" to be set up (by the officers, not the govt), where the screws paid weekly into a trust account in case they were ever caught up in similar action. The others got away, to be arrested later by the boys in blue. By the way, the action the Govt took as a result of this was to remove the rifles from the towers!

Another one tried escaping from B Division around the same time by jumping off the wall at the back of the prison (this is why Razor wire is piled up behind B Division) the builders had left a pile of sand, or similar piled up against the wall & the crim thought it would break his fall. He jumped at night, in the dark, but the builders had moved the sand earlier! He broke both legs & yes, he successfully sued the Dept!

There was also a 3rd one, who was pinned to the fence by the external patrol vehicle at Mobilong while escaping around 1988-89. You guessed it, he sued & won! To top it off, the poor bloody driver was disciplined for using the vehicle to stop a fleeing felon! (screws can be charged if they fail to attempt to stop an escapee!)

What a crazy, mixed up world we live in!

Eric Frei · 14th December 2011, 05:06 PM

Now that was an interesting read!

The world has truly gone stupid, thank not only the law but the judges.

Apocalypsse · 14th December 2011, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinE

There were at least 2 Eric; 1st one was shot while escaping through the fence on Hoods Rd with 4 others during the renovations in around 1985-86. They had an accomplice waiting for them armed in a car that was idling. It was shift change & the 2 chiefs (shift managers) were doing a perimeter patrol, which was the norm back then on shift change. They saw the idling car & investigated, a sawn off SG came out of the window!

They turned to bolt & ran head 1st into the 5 escapees coming through the wire!

Back then, there were tower guards & back then, they were armed; the guy in the tower shot one of them (I know his name

) & dropped him. The crim lost a kidney & successfully sued the guy who shot him (WTF?). The Dept of Correctional Services hung the poor bloke out to dry! No help whatsoever! This is what caused the "Correctional Officers Legal Fund" to be set up (by the officers, not the govt), where the screws paid weekly into a trust account in case they were ever caught up in similar action. The others got away, to be arrested later by the boys in blue. By the way, the action the Govt took as a result of this was to remove the rifles from the towers!

Another one tried escaping from B Division around the same time by jumping off the wall at the back of the prison (this is why Razor wire is piled up behind B Division) the builders had left a pile of sand, or similar piled up against the wall & the crim thought it would break his fall. He jumped at night, in the dark, but the builders had moved the sand earlier! He broke both legs & yes, he successfully sued the Dept!

There was also a 3rd one, who was pinned to the fence by the external patrol vehicle at Mobilong while escaping around 1988-89. You guessed it, he sued & won! To top it off, the poor bloody driver was disciplined for using the vehicle to stop a fleeing felon! (screws can be charged if they fail to attempt to stop an escapee!)

What a crazy, mixed up world we live in!

This has to be one of the most retarded things I've ever read. Criminals escaping from prison, they get stopped by the guards by whatever means they have, sue them for damages and win. It takes a special (by special I mean really really really bad) kind of person/Dept to completely abandon these guards so they can be cleaned up by people that the courts have deemed to be criminals.

Eric Frei · 14th December 2011, 06:25 PM

So the tree was spotted previously and supposed to be pruned then removed.

What a load of BS the school has been saying then, LIARS!

College admits liability for limb fall - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Quote:

College admits liability for limb fall

Posted December 14, 2011 15:08:12
An Adelaide private school has admitted liability over a tree limb which fell on a sports day, injuring three people.

Cedar College at Northgate has pleaded guilty in the Industrial Court to breaching safety laws.

The limb of an inronbark fell on on a windy day in September 2009.

The court heard an arborist had recommended the tree be pruned, then removed in two separate reports, the latter in 2007.

Lawyers for the college told the hearing the college did not understand the risk posed and ought to have removed the tree within the 18-month period, but had not.

Prosecutor Michael Opacic for SafeWork SA told the court one of the victims, John Alexander Duthie, was now a paraplegic as a result of the incident.

There will be more submissions to the court next week.

KevinE · 15th December 2011, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apocalypsse

This has to be one of the most retarded things I've ever read. Criminals escaping from prison, they get stopped by the guards by whatever means they have, sue them for damages and win. It takes a special (by special I mean really really really bad) kind of person/Dept to completely abandon these guards so they can be cleaned up by people that the courts have deemed to be criminals.

Trust me, the senior management were really, really, really "special"!

KevinE · 15th December 2011, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Frei

Now that was an interesting read!

The world has truly gone stupid, thank not only the law but the judges.

My former father in law, now very retired (& a very nice guy!) was one of the Chiefs during the shift change described in the 1st incident.

I worked at Adelaide Gaol when I got out of the army, then Yatala & Mobilong when Adelaide Gaol closed in Jan '88. You can do self guided tours of the Gaol these days; there's a nominal roll sitting in the gate house from the last day we worked there, my name's on it.

Tony Knight · 15th December 2011, 09:18 PM

I'd have to agree, a very interesting story. And again I would concur with the failures of common sense giving way to the rise of vexatious litigation.

Cheers

Tony

Eric Frei · 19th January 2012, 03:24 PM

Cedar College fined $109,917 for tree collapse | News.com.au

Quote:

Cedar College fined $109,917 for tree collapse

By Sean Fewster
AdelaideNow
January 19, 2012 11:53AM

PRIVATE Baptist School Cedar College has been fined more than $100,000 over a tree collapse that crippled a man.

The Industrial Magistrates Court in Adelaide, South Australia, this morning convicted the northern suburbs school of breaching state safety laws and fined it $109,917.

Industrial magistrate Michael Ardley said the college deserved a penalty roughly half of the $300,000 maximum fine.

However, he discounted that by 25 per cent because the college had admitted its wrong doing.

The tree collapse, in September 2009, seriously injured a woman and child watching the school's sports day and left fellow spectator John Duthie a paraplegic.

3rd August 2010, 07:53 AM	#31
Eric Frei Admin - Razor sharp and independent 2 X Diploma Level 5 qualified arborist Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 12,820	Re: 3 hurt as tree fails Adelaide School Both ..... and that is driven from people within the orgs that many are brain washed by. __________________ Protect your rights to work - Join Australian Tree Association My businesses:- Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping \| Stump Grinding Brisbane \| Brisbane - Gold Coast Consulting Arborist

25th November 2011, 03:48 PM	#33
jadly I'm new here so be nice Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Hampstead Rehab Centre Posts: 4	Re: 3 hurt as tree fails Adelaide School School failed to remove tree risk \| Adelaide Now The school has pleaded guilty in the Safe Work SA claim. MY public liability case continues.

26th November 2011, 01:15 PM	#35
Eric Frei Admin - Razor sharp and independent 2 X Diploma Level 5 qualified arborist Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 12,820	Re: 3 hurt as tree fails Adelaide School Lots would love to see this place (the forum) shut down. __________________ Protect your rights to work - Join Australian Tree Association My businesses:- Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping \| Stump Grinding Brisbane \| Brisbane - Gold Coast Consulting Arborist

13th December 2011, 11:35 AM	#37
John Vander Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: May 2011 Location: Oita Prefecture, Japan Posts: 99	Re: 3 hurt as tree fails Adelaide School You're doing a fine job Eric. Thank you for standing up against the idiocity of society. No doubt your business (and this forum) will outlive the rest. Too many people out there are too damn scared to call a spade a spade. My dad's been in the tractor business for about 40 years, and slugging it out with local bull over the years surely made his hair turn grey early, but he's tough as hell and respected by many. Leaders leave legacies, while cowards leave bull that someone else has to clean up. You got my respect man! __________________ "What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself." Abraham Lincoln

14th December 2011, 05:06 PM	#39
Eric Frei Admin - Razor sharp and independent 2 X Diploma Level 5 qualified arborist Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 12,820	Re: 3 hurt as tree fails Adelaide School Now that was an interesting read! The world has truly gone stupid, thank not only the law but the judges. __________________ Protect your rights to work - Join Australian Tree Association My businesses:- Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping \| Stump Grinding Brisbane \| Brisbane - Gold Coast Consulting Arborist

15th December 2011, 09:18 PM	#44
Tony Knight Mature tree Join Date: May 2011 Location: Victoria, Australia Posts: 271	Re: 3 hurt as tree fails Adelaide School I'd have to agree, a very interesting story. And again I would concur with the failures of common sense giving way to the rise of vexatious litigation. Cheers Tony

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