Flip Out Chester: Owners of trampoline park fined after 11 left with broken backs and hundreds injured

The owners of a trampoline park have been fined after 11 people broke their backs and hundreds more left with other injuries. Flip Out Chester directors David Elliot Shuttleworth, 34, and Metthew Melling, 33, have also been ordered to do community service after a customer was injured a day after it opened and 270 were hurt before it was closed two months later.

Chester Crown Court heard several individuals sustained severe spinal injuries that had significant impacts on their lives, prompting a visit from medical professionals after a surge in admissions to the local hospital's emergency department.

Customers, including many children, were injured while using the Tower Jump feature, which involves landing into a foam pit. The court was told that safety measures were neglected, despite frequent injuries occurring daily. Some victims experienced damaged vertebrae, leading to lasting health issues, while others suffered facial and dental injuries.

Shuttleworth, of Stoke-on-Trent, and Melling, of Spinningfields, Manchester, both pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a single count of negligence under health and safety law between December 2016 and February 2017. Judge Michael Leeming said he was passing sentence on the basis the two defendants were negligent rather than committing deliberate acts or cost cutting at the expense of safety and he was constrained by the sentencing guidelines and the law.

He said: “There’s no evidence the company took any steps at all, including reasonably practical ones to reduce or eliminate those risks. Common sense says investigating why an accident has happened reduces the risk of further accidents. The sentence will be less than many people hoped for and many people think you deserve.”

Shuttleworth was fined £6,500 and Melling £6,300, with each ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid community service. Also, Shuttleworth was ordered to pay £50,000 costs and Melling £10,000 costs, to go towards the £250,000 prosecution costs and council investigation.

Previously, the court heard that both owners had operated a franchise business called Flip Out Stoke. Subsequently, on December 10, 2016, they launched Flip Out Chester, which proved to be highly successful, attracting 200,000 customers within two months of its opening. However, within just a day of its launch, an incident occurred where a visitor sustained an injury while using the Tower Jump, an attraction where patrons could leap from a height of up to 5.3m into a foam pit below. This activity was identified as posing a significant risk of harm to users.

From the opening day until February 3, 2017, a total of 270 members of the public suffered injuries while using the Tower Jump, including 11 individuals with spinal injuries and four requiring surgical intervention. Among these injuries were cases of face-to-knee contact resulting in 123 injuries, as well as various other incidents such as broken ribs and sprained wrists. On January 6, a staff member broke her back while jumping from the tower, and subsequent days also saw multiple accidents, including six on January 13 and six on January 18.

Despite the ongoing occurrence of injuries, the business continued to operate. However, on February 1, 2017, three people sustained back injuries, all of whom were taken to the Countess of Chester Hospital. Concerned by the frequency of injuries, hospital staff began monitoring admissions from Flip Out and eventually took action. Medical personnel sent a letter to the trampoline park, and shortly after, a group of senior doctors visited the premises. Additionally, the local council was notified, leading to an investigation and the eventual closure of the Tower Jump on February 3, 2017.

Judge Leeming said Shuttleworth displayed an unfortunate attitude, suggesting that minor injuries were an inherent risk of operating a trampoline park. Both former directors, now employed as business consultants earning approximately £80,000 each, were described as being "chastened" by the investigation and legal proceedings.

The defendants' company, Shuttleworth and Melling Ltd, went into liquidation in 2021. Several personal injury claims are currently being pursued or have already been settled.