Property developers held to account after dad and baby plunge through manhole cover

A dad of two came to Digby Brown for help after a quiet walk with his children became a terrifying ordeal.

He was strolling through a new-build housing estate near Stirling with his daughter, aged three, and his son, aged one.

The trio slowly paced by a field while they looked at some horses when he and his son suddenly plunged into an underground chamber.

It turned out the pair had stepped on a manhole cover that had not been properly secured. 

The young dad landed on a ledge around two metres down however his infant son fell into a pool of water.
Thankfully, the quick-thinking dad sprang to action and quickly grabbed his child so he was only in the water for a second or two.

Recalling the shocking incident, he said: “There wasn’t really enough time to register what happened. 

“It all kind of happened in an instant where we’ve fallen in tandem – then at the same time I realised I’m on a ledge and I’m already reaching down to scoop up my boy.

“As he came up I could see brown water running from his mouth. He was coughing, crying, freezing cold and soaked through.

“I cradled him and looked up and that’s when I could also hear my daughter crying – she was still on the surface and getting upset as she looked down through the manhole.”

They were roughly two metres underground.

They were in a remote location and there was no way to call for help. 

With concern for his son’s health increasing along with the fear for his upset daughter standing above, the dad did the only thing he could in that moment. 

He pushed his son up through the hole in a way that he could safely roll him to one side where he’d lie safely on mossy grass.

This meant he had both hands free to jump up, catch the lip of the ledge and pull himself free. 

From there, the concerned dad then grabbed both children and ran back to the house as fast as possible and sought medical help.

Medics confirmed the infant swallowed some of the dirty water resulting in severe gastric distress – he also suffered minor soft tissue injuries. 

The three-year-old daughter suffered psychological trauma from witnessing her family in distress and both children were more clingy after the ordeal.

The dad also suffered minor physical injuries and had to take a week off work.

He added: “The whole affair was just terrifying. It should never have happened. 

“We could literally have died – it was sheer luck that we avoided serious harm and were able to actually escape.”

He sought legal advice from Digby Brown where Kieran McGrath, Senior Solicitor in the firm’s Edinburgh office, investigated the manhole, the landowners and identify who was ultimately responsible for what happened to the young family. 

Kieran found the manhole cover was for access to a sustainable drainage system for a new build estate.

A short time after the incident he returned to the scene to take photos – this meant, even in the absence of CCTV, that Kieran had additional visual evidence to support the injury claim in a public place.

Kieran, with support from Partner Catriona Headley, built the occupier’s liability action around the physical and psychological injuries of the dad and his kids. 

The case was pursued against the principal contractor for the new build site which initially denied liability.

But when Kieran discovered a historic inspection report from Scottish Water which pointed out the faulty manhole the contractor agreed to settle the claim. 

They received £31,500 as a result of the action – all without the need to go to court. 

He said: “This action was never about the compensation – it was about accountability and making sure that manhole was fixed by whoever was responsible. 

“Because this could have been a whole lot worse however I understand that civil claims aren’t based on ‘What ifs’.

“I’m so grateful the kids recovered well after all this and I can’t thank Digby Brown enough for helping us prove who was liable as it now might help make other drainage projects safer.”