A BOLLARD that toppled over and killed a County Durham toddler at a Scottish agricultural show was in poor condition, a jury heard today. (Thursday, November 20)

Construction industry safety expert Peter Cheesman was called to the Royal Highland Showground at Ingliston, near Edinburgh, the day after Ben Craggs died.

The three-year-old was at the show on June 19, 2008, with his farmer parents, Jonathan Craggs and Dawn Surtees, from Sedgefield, to exhibit livestock.

He fell and grabbed a rope connecting two of bollards in a car park, one of which overturned and struck him on the head.

He was taken by ambulance to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children but died a short time later from his injuries, just six days before his fourth birthday.

Mr Cheesman told day four of the trial of show organisers The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland that the base of the bollard was in a "pretty bad condition".

He said the concrete bollard was standing on compacted stones or gravel which meant it would have a tendency to rock.

And the fact the top of the bollard was solid while below was hollow also made it more likely to fall over.

The retired Heriot-Watt University lecturer said daily safety checks should be carried out on equipment like bollards.

He told Edinburgh Sheriff Court that tests showed it would take 30kg to 10kg of force to topple the 3.5ft bollard.

Told Ben weighed 16kg and was walking when he fell and grabbed the rope, Mr Cheesman said: "Even if he had been standing still, that would still have been enough.”

He told the court that had the bollard had been joined to another by a metal pole it could still have fallen, but not in the way it did.

"Somebody should be going round every day to check on safety of things like bollards," he added.

The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland has denied eight charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The trial before Sheriff Paul Arthurson continues.