A MAN fell to his death after his friend pushed him 12ft to the ground in an unsavory prank at a driving range, an inquest heard.
Conner Groom, 22, fell 3.7 meters from the bay at Topgolf in Chigwell, Essex, during a work Christmas party on December 21, 2021.
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Conner Groom, 22, fell to his death after his friend pushed him 12ftCredit: gofundme
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He went headfirst over the edge of the safety nets at Topgolf in Chigwell, EssexCredit: Richard Hoarse
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Instead of falling into the net, Conner went over the edge and fell to the groundCredit: TripAdvisor
Conner, from Clacton-on-Sea, went headfirst over the edge of the safety netting on the first floor of the range and died five weeks later from a spinal injury.
Essex Coroner’s Court heard how Conner and his friends had been drinking all evening before arriving at the scene.
After starting the session, the friends pranked each other by pushing or shoving each other to fall on the safety nets.
Before Conner was pushed by an unnamed friend, there were seven other incidents of pushing or attempted pushing by the group.
One of Conner’s friends ran over and pushed him, but instead of falling into the net, he went over the edge and fell to the ground about 12 feet below.
He suffered a serious spinal injury and was later taken to the Royal London Hospital.
Unfortunately, his condition worsened and he died from his injuries on January 25, 2022.
‘Nothing malicious’
Detective Inspector Lydia George, of Essex Police, told the inquest how officers took statements from a number of people at the scene and reviewed CCTV footage of the incident.
DI George said: “All of the CCTV shows them in good spirits and with no signs of hostility.
“Several times the friends are seen trying to push each other into the safety net. It was clearly taken as a joke.”
DI George said this had happened several times and a member of security had come to speak to the group about their behaviour.
The man who ended up pushing Conner had not been involved in previous shoving incidents, the detective said.
DI George continued: “Just before the fatal push, [Conner’s friend] said he was going to push Conner into the net.
“It was said in jest. He ran up to him and pushed him. It was a two-handed push.”
WHAT IS TOPGOLF?
TOPGOLF is a golf driving range with electronically tracked golf balls and automatic scoring.
Opened in 2000, it has locations in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Mexico, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
Its premises in the UK include Chigwell, Watford, Surrey and Glasgow.
There are several variants of Topgolf such as Topgolf, TopChip, TopShot, TopPressure and Angry Birds.
DI George said the proposed cause of Conner’s death after a long hospital stay was hypoxic brain injury caused by a traumatic spinal cord injury.
DI George said that following the death, Essex Police consulted with the Crown Prosecution Service and Conner’s family about whether further action should be taken against his friend for the pushing.
The court heard that police ultimately decided not to lay manslaughter charges because “the evidentiary test was not met” and that the sheer intention of the push was to make Conner fall into the safety net.
DI George added: “Conner Groom’s parents did not support prosecution [his friend].
“They believed that Conner would not want to support any action against him because they are good friends.”
Graham Jarvis, senior environmental health officer at Epping Forest Council, carried out a review of Topgolf and its safety procedures following Conner’s death.
He told the court the venue had made a number of changes to its policies following the tragic incident, including updating signage and more “zero tolerance” for those pushing people into safety nets.
Mr Jarvis added that Epping Forest Council was happy with all the changes made to Topgolf and that no enforcement action had been taken against the site.
Coroner Lincoln Brookes said he was completely satisfied that no one in Conner’s group had intended harm and that his friend had fully intended for him to land on the safety net.
Mr Brookes said the case was a “horrible tragedy” and recorded a conclusion of an accident.
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Friends pranked each other by pushing or shoving to fall on safety nets Credit: Alamy
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A review of Topgolf and its safety procedures was conducted following Conner’s deathCredit: Google Maps
Categories: Optical Illusion
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