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Joy sues for negligence
Page 25
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• Lorry driver Alfred Joy last week told a High Court hearing how he had continually asked his foreman for thicker ropes to tie down his load. But his requests over two years were ignored and in March 1983 a plastic rope snapped causing him serious injury, he claimed.
Joy, aged 68, is suing WBS Transport, of Riverside Estate, Oliver Road, West Thurrock, Grays, Essex, for negligence.
It is claimed he suffered severe back injury, a fracture in the heel and "gross" wasting of the muscles in the legs.
Joy, of Kingfisher House, Sheerness, Kent, was in Carbuke, Scotland, holding the half-inch rope with both hands to secure sheeting covering a load. When it snapped, he claimed that he was hurled against the off-side rear set of tyres "buckling at the knees and causing him to strike his back and fall to the ground".
Joy said WBS phased-out inch-thick manilla ropes and introduced thinner ones which kept breaking. He told the court that his requests made to transport manager Reginald Mole to get thicker ropes or webbing straps instead were ignored.
WBS deny the claim and says that Joy failed to check his ropes for wear and that it was his responsibility to use them correctly.
The hearing continues.