A TEENAGE fairground attendant suffered a fractured skull after he was thrown from a ride, a court heard.

Martin Brown, 19, was knocked unconscious after falling from the Crazy Frog during Barnard Castle Meet.

He also suffered a fractured eye socket, four fractures to the jaw and three to his wrists and awoke in Darlington Memorial Hospital with little memory of events.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is prosecuting 21-yearold Elliot Crow who was the operator of the Crazy Frog on May 31, 2010.

Mr Brown, who worked for the Crow family, collected entry tokens and rode on the Crazy Frog to balance it up when there were too few customers.

Neil Cameron, defending Mr Crow, told Darlington magistrates that Mr Brown had failed to use the ride’s safety measures.

“There is a seatbelt and safety bar to fasten those using the ride in place,” he said.

Addressing Mr Brown, he added: “A video of the accident shows you sitting sideways across the seat with your feet up on the seat.

“It seems fairly clear why you fell out as the seatbelt and restraining bar are not in place.

You were showing off.”

The HSE alleges that Mr Crow should have made sure all riders – including Mr Brown – used the safety measures.

Mr Brown told the court: “I’d been trained on fastening the safety measures but I’d seen other attendants with their feet up and lower their legs when the ride began.

“I didn’t have time to lower them this time. I was 17 and I just did what I’d seen others do. I should have applied commonsense.

“I don’t remember much of the accident and I just remember waking up in hospital. It had a big effect on my life.”

The accident took place in the Morrisons car park, off Galgate, in Barnard Castle.

Mr Crow, of Fairfield High Street, Northallerton, denies breaching the 1974 Health and Safety Act.

A defence bid to dismiss the case for lack of evidence was refused and the case continues.