By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune News Editor
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
A ROYAL Bahamas Defence Force marine who was pinned beneath a nine-foot sliding gate at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium has won more than $205,000 in damages after the Supreme Court found that authorities knew the gate had repeatedly come off its track but failed to repair or secure it properly.
Chief Justice Sir Ian Winder found the National Sports Authority and the Defence Force liable for the June 2016 accident that left Timica Burrows with serious neck injuries, chronic pain and the prospect of further spinal surgery.
The judgment also ordered the Defence Force to stop deducting $150 from Burrows’ pay over sick leave arising from the accident and repay $4,800 already deducted by the time of trial.
Ms Burrows, then an Able Woman Marine assigned to the stadium, was injured on June 29, 2016 while conducting routine rounds and securing entry and exit points with another marine.
As she attempted to close the stadium’s northern gate, the gate came off its tracks and fell on her, pinning her underneath it. Other Defence Force officers and stadium security personnel lifted the gate off her before she was taken by ambulance to hospital.
Evidence at trial showed the problem was not new.
Leading Seaman Warren Davis, who was the guard commander at the stadium when Burrows was injured, testified that the northern gate had come off its track on more than one previous occasion and had simply been put back into place.
He also said he had asked a stadium security officer to have it properly repaired to prevent an accident.
Chief Justice Winder found that the NSA knew, or should have known, that the gate could run through its tracks and fall, and that the danger was not obvious to Burrows.
“The failure to repair or secure the gate,” he found, “was a breach of duty and a factual and legal cause of the accident.”
The Defence Force was also found liable for failing to provide Ms Burrows with a safe system and place of work, adequate supervision and necessary information about the danger.
The Chief Justice found there was no specific warning or prohibition against officers operating the gate and no evidence that information about the gate’s recurring failures had been properly communicated to Ms Burrows.
Ms Burrows underwent surgery in November 2016 after being diagnosed with cervical disc problems.
She later continued to experience neck and upper-limb pain and underwent another cervical operation in November 2023. Medical evidence before the court showed incomplete fusion following the earlier surgery and continuing severe pain. A neurosurgeon recommended further surgery involving three vertebrae, although the court heard that pain could have more than one contributing cause.
Ms Burrows told the court the injury had substantially affected her daily life and career, leaving her unable to perform much of the field work she previously undertook and making physical training, household activities and even driving difficult when her pain was severe.
She also said chronic pain affected her sleep and that she relied heavily on relatives and friends for assistance.
The court awarded Ms Burrows $108,361.47 in general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenities.
She was also awarded $1,243.54 for travel expenses and future medical expenses listed in the judgment’s final calculation as $90,862.
The judgment separately said the future treatment included $84,892 for revision cervical fusion surgery and $6,000 in reasonable physiotherapy expenses.
Ms Burrows did not succeed on every aspect of her claim. Chief Justice Winder rejected her claim for loss of promotion prospects, finding that she had not been promoted during the 12 years before the accident but was promoted the year after.
He also declined to award damages for diminished future earnings, finding there was no evidence that Burrows was unable to work or continue her duties as a Defence Force officer. She remained on active duty at the time of trial.
The court nevertheless ordered the Defence Force to stop recovering one-eighth of Burrows’ sick leave pay through the $150 deductions and reimburse the $4,800 already deducted, along with any further deductions made after the trial.
The awards will attract interest, and Ms Burrows was also awarded her reasonable legal costs. The amount of those costs has yet to be determined.
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