How safe is your local funfair? Investigation uncovers safety fears at popular parks – with major concerns over one safety inspector

An investigation has uncovered major safety fears at popular fairground parks – with one convicted inspector in particular causing concern.

Accidents that have left young children ‘completely covered in blood’ and victims thrown out of rides ‘like a ragdoll’ are brought to light in a BBC Panorama programme due to be broadcast tonight.

Many travelling fairground sites and societies are said to have rejected proposed safety measures.

And the Adips (Amusement Device Inspection Procedures Scheme) list has allowed controversial inspectors to continue in their job.

The owner of DMG Technical, David Geary, is a Wales-based inspector who is now facing criticism in the BBC documentary called ‘Funfairs: How Safe Are They?’.

After a five-year-old’s ankle was crushed by a rollercoaster at the Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza festival in North Wales, Mr Geary received a criminal conviction and a fine for failing to identify risks.

He also admitted breaching health and safety regulations and was handed a suspended prison sentence in 2018 after a ride at the Funderpark funfair in the village of Yiewsley in Hillingdon, west London, catapulted to a mother-of-eight from her seat.

His company, which admitted an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act, was fined £51,000.

An eight-year-old girl had previously died in Australia on the same ride and it was never used again in the country – but it was sold three years later, in 2017, to the UK

Ms Harrison suffered internal bruising, severe damage to both thighs, and more bruising all over her body

Another case involving Mr Geary relates to the Airmaxx 360 in Hull Fair which led Jade Harrison, then 21, to suffer a broken jaw and lost tooth when she was thrown 15ft out of her seat in October 2019.

An eight-year-old girl had previously died in Australia on the same ride and it was never used again in that country – but was sold three years later to the UK.

Mr Geary said his company had modified the ride following the Australia accident.

Ms Harrison suffered internal bruising, severe damage to both thighs and more bruising all over her body in the incident.

The Health and Safety Executive had formally warned Mr Geary about eight safety breaches over the past 10 years – though his registration with Adips (Amusement Device Inspection Procedures Scheme) was only suspended in March this year.

The HSE has now said it is reviewing its industry safety guidance ‘to decide whether it, and the system it underpins, remains fit for purpose’.

The Panorama programme tells how former waitress Ms Harrison collided with a teenage boy and underwent a two-hour operation, needing metal plates in her jaw.

She spoke out about the ordeal which she says ‘could have killed her’ and called for more safety checks – with official figures showing there were 3,188 related injuries in England, Scotland and Wales between April 2014 and March last year.

After a five-year-old’s ankle was crushed by a rollercoaster at the Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza festival in North Wales, Mr Geary received a criminal conviction and a fine for failing to identify risks (file image)

The fairground rides were set up on Mostyn Street in Llandudno town centre (file image)

Speaking to the BBC, Ms Harrison – aged 21 at the time of the accident – described hearing a ‘clicking noise’ in her back and the ride going on for about a minute and a half before it changed direction and was the last ‘concrete thing’ she remembered.

Ms Harrison told how she could feel herself ‘slip’ and that when she woke up she had a ‘bit of amnesia’ before starting to panic as she felt ‘something wasn’t right’ in her mouth as it felt like all her teeth had ‘gone’.

She also recalled her injuries, adding: ‘I could barely walk, I broke my jaw completely in half. I had damage to mainly back teeth on both sides. 

‘I had internal bruising, severe damage to both thighs, and then just bruising all over my body, like black, purple bruises.’

Surgeons then had to remove two unsalvageable teeth from Ms Harrison’s mouth before placing three metal plates in her jaw – telling her they would ‘stay there’.

A woman who was injured last December when a 180ft Christmas fairground ride crashed to the ground in Birmingham.

The City Starflyer ride, provided by funfair suppliers Danter Attractions, was acclaimed as ‘one of the tallest rides around’.

The casualty Louise Brown, a mother working at the BBC in England’s second city, said in the aftermath: ‘This can never happen again – we are in shock and all I can think of is what if my kids were on the ride.’ 

Louise Brown (pictured) was on the City Starflyer swing chair ride in Birmingham city centre when it crashed last December

In an incident in Edinburgh, the victims’ father, Kevin McNulty, who was in the car on the ride behind his three children, aged 13, 12 and seven, described seeing it ‘come completely off’ before going smack bang into his own seat

A circular vehicle was seen going flying during the fairground attraction mishap in Edinburgh

Ms Brown suffered injuries to her face, legs and arms, adding that her colleague was also hurt, and saying: ‘We were on it having fun and then it just crashed to the ground.

‘It felt like we were descending, not at the highest point but still quite high. We just dropped. It went backwards first though, which I’ve never seen it do before.’

Locals told MailOnline at the time that the incident put them off attending.

Val Breakwell, from Rednal, who had come to the city centre with her friend to enjoy the festivities, said: ‘We weren’t here last night, but what a disaster. We saw it on Facebook, the poor injured people.

‘Something has gone catastrophically wrong with it. No chance would I be on there, I wouldn’t even go on the Ferris wheel now.

‘I wouldn’t let anyone go on there, I wouldn’t want my family to go on it.’

And only last month, a waltzer car came crashing out of a fairground attraction after it suddenly appeared to malfunction.

Footage taken at the Galactic Carnival Festival in Wester Hailed in the Scottish capital Edinburgh showed the ‘unthinkable’ happening as the circular vehicle went flying.

The Christmas fairground was sealed off after a ride collapsed in Birmingham last December (pictured is part of the damaged ride)

Pictured is an ambulance as it appears to rush to the scene following the accident 

A picture of one of the broken chairs which were swung around on the ride

Pictured is the scene of the incident in Birmingham the next day, the ride taped off by police 

Galactic Carnival Edinburgh issued an apology and remains under investigation.

Their statement said all rides undergo ‘extensive safety testing in line with government guidelines’ and inspection by Adips.

The company added: ‘This incident is now being investigated by third party inspection bodies and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).’

Ride inspector Alex Nicholls has now called for a major overhaul of safety at funfairs.

He said: ‘We can’t allow this to happen again. You know, the names will change, but if the game is the same, then we’re just going to have the same problems over and over.’