Former Strangeways inmate jailed for wounding sues the prison for slipping on a puddle

A FORMER prisoner who tried to sue after saying he slipped on a puddle in Strangeways has had the claim thrown out of court.

Danny Hadfield said he fell on water on a set of stairs, badly injuring his back and elbow.

Hadfield, 52, wanted £2,750 from bosses at HMP Manchester – but Strangeways wing manager Gail Hyde said there were only two ‘conceivable’ explanations for liquid being on the stairs, but insisted both were ‘highly unlikely’.

Former con Hadfield, who was given a job as a cleaner while serving his sentence for wounding, said he slipped when he was let out of his cell in July 2012.

The reports Mr Hadfield, from Altrincham, said he hasn’t been able to work as a builder since the fall, following his release from prison in December 2012.

He said he was on his way to make a phone call before tumbling down the stairs, trapping his arm in the railings and landing on his back.

But Manchester Civil Justice Centre heard the floors had last been mopped at 4pm on Saturday - 17 hours before Mr Hadfield’s fall.

They weren’t due to be done again until around an hour after he was let out of his cell with other prisoner cleaners.

Ms Hyde said officers were ‘forbidden’ to walk around the wing with drinks which means there would not have been a spillage.

Elis Gomer, acting on behalf of the prison and the Department of Justice, asked Mr Hadfield if he fell because he was rushing to get to the phones first, he said ‘no’.

But Mr Gomer also highlighted several ‘inconsistencies’ in Mr Hadfield’s statements.

It was said that the former prisoner had failed to tell doctors about past issues with a back strain and that he’d had a number of falls since.

Hadfield was accused by the defence of exaggerating his injuries to get more money from the prison.

But he insisted he wasn’t ‘interested in the money’ and Mr Hadfield’s representative, Neil Downey, said his client was a ‘poor historian’, rather than a liar.

District Judge Daniel Moss threw the claim out, insisting there was no evidence an officer had spilled a drink.

He said ‘on the balance of probabilities’ it was ‘far more likely’ Mr Hadfield simply lost his footing on the stairs, ‘whether he was rushing or not’.

He said he was satisfied Mr Hadfield had not been dishonest during his evidence.

Mr Hadfield refused to comment following the hearing.

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