Dancer crushed by 'mechanical tree' while filming TV ad suing for over £300,000
A dancer who suffered 'serious injuries' after being crushed by a mechanical tree while on a film set is suing for over £300,000 compensation.
Keira Johnson had been filming an advert in Poland in September 2022 when she sustained back injuries after a tree mounted on a mechanical stump fell on her.
The performance artist — who had worked for the Royal Opera House — had been hired by a London-based advertising agency to film a two-minute advert.
During filming, Ms Johnson and another actor were depicted running through woodland and 'knocking over trees' when the bizarre accident occurred, according to documents filed at London's High Court.
A special effects team had used trees mounted on a "mechanical pivot or hinge" to give the impression of the actors smashing through woods.
Woman tells of losing 29 kilos and becoming a bodybuilder in her 60s
Ms Johnson's lawyers say that she suffered "serious" crush injuries to her back after "a tree that was intended to fall via a special effects mechanism fell early" and landed on her.
Keira Johnson is suing for £300,000 compensation (Champion News)
The dancer was injured while on a film set in Poland (Champion News)The dancer, from Oakhill, Somerset, is now suing the agency that hired her, DDB UK Limited, trading as Adam and Eve DDB, and is claiming "damages for personal injury in excess of £300,000".
The ad agency have admitted that Ms Johnson suffered serious injuries on set but deny liability to pay her compensation.
Claim documents from Ms Johnson's lawyers state: "Whilst on set, a tree that was intended to fall via a special effects mechanism fell early and landed on the claimant, causing serious injury. The facts of the accident itself evidence the defendant's negligence."
In their defence, lawyers for the ad agency say that the company handed over responsibility of the shoot to a "well-established multi-award winning film production company".
They said: "Whilst the defendant devised the concept of two people running through and knocking over trees, (the production company) decided upon the concept of using a mechanical pivot or hinge technique to lower trees as the actors ran through them, rather than, for example, using CGI."
Barrister James Medd, for DDB, stated the production company "was in control of the shooting of the scene and the claimant acted under (the production company's) direction".
Describing the day of the accident, he said that Ms Johnson and the other actor had first gone through six rehearsals without the falling the trees.
They then both did four takes with the mechanical trees being operated remotely by the special effects department.
But it was on the fifth take that the accident occurred, Barrister Medd said: "The claimant touched the first tree and the second tree fell early, landed on the claimant's back and caused her serious injury. The first tree fell just after the second tree."
Chelsea winners and losers from record transfer window as more changes to come
Ad agency Adam & Eve DDB deny liability to pay Johnson compensation (Champion News)He went on to say that the agency denied that shooting the scene was "exceptionally dangerous whatever precautions were taken".
They admitted that "the scene gave rise to risks", but denied that the risks could "not be obviated or controlled by the exercise of reasonable skill and care by a competent production company".
Describing how the angency believed the accident happened, he added: "It would appear most probable that it was either as a result of the individual whose responsibility it was to press the buttons to lower the tree pressing the wrong button or buttons, or pressing a button or buttons at the wrong time or as a result of a malfunction in the equipment designed to control the tree-lowering process."
The agency admitted that "the accident ought never to have occurred" and declared that "it was in no way the fault of the claimant."
But they denied that they were "responsible in law or in fact for either of these causes", arguing that it was not up to them to "provide or implement risk assessments".
They claimed that risk asssessments were provided by the production company and that if any of these were "inadequate" it was "due to the negligence of (the production company) or its sub-contractors."
The barrister concluded that while the agency admits the claimant suffered "serious personal injuries", they deny that these were "caused by the defendant's negligence".
The exact nature of the "serious" injuries suffered by Ms Johnson and the product that the film was set to promote were not set out in the documents currently available from the court.
DDB UK Limited is the sole defendant to the claim and the production company is not a party to the action.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
