A FITNESS enthusiast who was blinded after gym equipment broke and struck him in the eye has been awarded substantial damages, believed to total more than £1m.

David Lloyd Leisure Teesside in Stockton, one of a national chain of gyms, pleaded guilty at Teesside Crown Court to two counts of failing to discharge a duty contrary to health and safety laws.

The victim, company director Mauro Carneiro, 46, of Eaglescliffe, lost the sight in his left eye and suffered damage to his right eye.

The wounding happened at the gym on Barrage Way, Thornaby, near Stockton, on June 7, 2013 when Mr Carneiro, the director of an engineering company, was exercising with a personal trainer in the outdoor area.

The trainer attached three resistance bands to a D ring with carabineer clips and secured them to a fence post using nylon webbing strap. He then instructed his client to pull the elastic bands to and away from himself while kneeling on a stability ball. The nylon webbing gave way and the carbineer clips and D ring recoiled and hit the client in the face leaving him permanently blind in his left eye.

The court heard that a civil claim had already been settled and Mr Carneiro, a successful director of engineering company Thyssenkrupp, had been awarded substantial damages.

The Crown Court prosecution was made by Stockton Borough Council and the authority's Cabinet Member for Housing and Community Safety, Councillor Steve Nelson, said: “This is a tragic case and one that I hope is never repeated again. Most people attend gyms to improve their health not to suffer life changing injuries, everyone in this industry has a responsibility to ensure their equipment is maintained and used correctly.”

There remains a dispute between the prosecution and the defendant as to the level of culpability on behalf of David Lloyd Leisure Limited and the matter will be considered further at the sentencing hearing on Friday, May 15.