Paramedic left paralysed after climbing accident.

Byline: BY CARL BUTLER

A PARAMEDIC was left paralysed when she fell 15 feet onto her head and back in a climbing accident on an adventure weekend in North Wales.

Lisa Brennin, 32, from St Helens, was employed by the Merseyside Regional Ambulance Service at Runcorn and had gone on an adventure weekend with a group of female colleagues in March 2003.

Yesterday a court heard that all were "novices" to climbing and abseiling when they arrived at the JJ Canoeing and Rafting adventure activity centre in Llangollen.

It was also revealed that her instructor had qualified to teach rock climbing only 10 days before the accident.

Olympic and international canoe coach James Jayes, 47, and his ex-wife Anyta, 30, a former British Open canoe slalom champion, who ran the centre, are on trial at Chester Crown Court charged under Health and Safety regulations.

It is alleged they failed to ensure a self-employed climbing instructor engaged by them was of suitable experience and competence.

Jayes, of Berwyn Road, Llangollen, and his ex-wife, of Church Lane, St Martins, deny the charges brought by Denbighshire County Council.

Mrs Brennin, now a paraplegic, gave evidence from her wheelchair and told the court she had joined the ambulance service on leaving school and achieved her ambition of working her way up to paramedic.

She and others had qualified that March.

She told the court: "Some of us had just passed our paramedic exams and rather than go drinking and dancing we thought we would do something different."

Julian Shaw, prosecuting said JJ's was set up by Mr Jayes in 1985. He met his wife and they ran the business as a partnership until making it a limited company in 2003.

"The proprietors themselves are hugely experienced and qualified canoeists. Mr Jayes is an international and Olympic canoe coach and one-time British white water slalom champion. Mrs Jayes too was a British Open slalom champion," said Mr Shaw.

"For water events they were highly skilled and competent. But the centre also offered quad biking, laser clay pigeon shooting, abseiling and rock climbing which were supervised by people engaged by the centre.

"James McDermott was an experienced climber and he was to supervise the women climbing on Trevor Rocks, about 10 minutes away from the centre at Mile End Mill.

"He, like the Jayes, appears to have been extremely experienced in his subject and had been climbing for a number of years.

"But he had only become qualified to instruct on his own on March 6, ten days before the matters which concern you.

"The prosecution says it was the first time he had ever been in charge of a group of climbers as a qualified instructor on his own."

Mrs Brennin said after successfully completing the abseiling, where she had been given a safety briefing before the start, she "wandered" over to the rock climbing and started assisting in a so-called bellringer method of climbing where one person climbed and another two assisted by holding onto a supporting rope.

When she made her climb, Mr Shaw said Mr McDermott shouted for Mrs Brennin to lean back - similar to how she had been abseiling - and "let go".

Unfortunately, he said, all three women heard the instruction and let go and Mrs Brennin fell. Mrs Brennin told the jury: "It felt like a dreamy-type feeling, the next thing I felt myself land."

She was transferred to Wrexham Maelor Hospital, then the Oswestry spinal unit and then Southport spinal injury unit and was discharged from hospital after six months. She was asked if her injuries were permanent, and replied "yes."

The case continues

CAPTION(S):

Lisa Brennin leaving Chester Crown Court yesterday Picture: STACEY ROBERTS