Fears boy, 4, scarred for life after falling on 'blade' to deter skateboarders

A LITTLE boy may have been left scarred for life after striking his head on an anti-skateboarding 'blade' in Manchester city centre.

- NEAL KEELING

Finley Richards, aged four, suffered a deep gash to his forehead in the accident in Cathedral Gardens.

Now his father, Paul, is calling for the council to remove the metal protrusions which are embedded in paving around the greens between Manchester Cathedral and the National Museum of Football.

Paul, from Didsbury, and his family had attended a folk festival at the location.

He said: "Finley was running around with other kids on the grass just outside the kids activity tent. He has fallen over and landed on this blade. It was very traumatic, lots of blood, he was rushed to hospital by ambulance.

"Your natural reaction is to put your hands out to break your fall. In this instance as my daughter has described it, if this stopper had not been there he probably wouldn't have even hit his head. But because it protrudes so much his head hit it.

"Skateboarders like to do this thing called grinding - so they flip the board up and then grind across the paving and drop off. So it is meant to protect the council's steps.

I have researched other suppliers of these protrusions and one does a version which is only meant to protrude 5mm and has a rounded edge. Whereas these are 3cm and are more like a skateboard blade sticking out of the ground.