Tragically Nicholas Bales has not been able to work since, with the serious injuries requiring the tradesman to use crutches to assist him to walk while he continues to suffer pain daily.

He also had to have a device fitted that sends low levels of electricity directly into his spinal cord to alleviate some of the pain he continues to feel.

As reported by Hull Live, Mr Bales had been working for Hull-based roofing specialists LA Hall on the restoration of St John the Baptist Church on St George’s Road in west Hull when the accident happened in December 2017.

He's since received a huge payout https://t.co/w7mypMq7Dz

— Hull Live (@hulllive) December 30, 2021

His case against LA Hall was centred around poor and indequate safety standards that the tradesman argued was the direct reason that led to him falling off the ladder - specifically metal shuttering that ‘protruded out over the scaffolding platform’.

Representing Mr Bales was personal injury solicitor Jane Woodcock, who said “It was our case on behalf of Mr Bales that had this work been properly planned, appropriately supervised and fully risk assessed to ensure work could be carried out in safe manner, this accident, which has a huge impact on his life, would have been prevented”, in comments made to Hull Live.

She also said, “There was a clear risk from the metal shuttering around the scaffolding, which had been put in place to prevent members of the public accessing the site. It was dangerous as it hampered workers when using a spring loaded gate on the platform which gave them access to and from the ladders.”

“One of Mr Bales work colleagues took pictures of it following his accident and the danger was clear to see."

“This should have been spotted during risk assessments and made safe. Not to do this was a breach of duty of care and left Mr Bales at risk of injury.”

LA Hall argued that the experienced roofer of 20 years was partly at fault - noting he had been able to work and avoid incident for a number of days at the site before the accident happened. 

As a result, the two parties reached a compromise apportionment of liability and a settlement was reached between the parties amounting to ‘thousands of pounds’.

Speaking about the agreement, the roofer said “Accepting part of the blame did result in me receiving a lower damages settlement than had we chosen to go to court and won the case outright but that was all explained to me.”

“To be honest, I was entirely happy with the level of agreement reached and I was pleased to have some certainty that my claim would be successful.”

(H/T Hull LIve)