THE owner of a faulty fairground ride in which three teenagers narrowly escaped death was fined £1,000 yesterday.

A jury at Teesside Crown Court convicted travelling showman Gilbert Findlay Jnr, 34, of failing to ensure the safety of users of his Ultimate Buzz ride under Health and Safety regulations.

During the three-day hearing Tony Hawks, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, told the jury how Stacey Moorhead, David Mole and Paul Wilkinson were lucky to survive when a car broke free on the ride owned by Findlay, who had denied the charge.

All three teenagers were injured when they were thrown ten metres into the air at a summer carnival in 2000 at Hartlepool Headland.

An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive found that most of the cars on the ride had been attached with fixings which had undergone makeshift repairs.

Simon Antrobus, defending, said that Findlay, who comes from Glasgow, had had the ride checked by engineering inspector Brian Black.

Mr Antrobus said that after carrying out a number of modifications he had been given a safety certificate by Mr Black and therefore believed the ride to be in good working order.

After being given the certificate for the ride, Findlay continued to check the machinery. Following the accident he had spent £3,000 to bring the ride into good order, Mr Antrobus said.

He also told Judge George Moorhouse that following the accident Findlay's ride had been barred from a number of showgrounds.

As a result he had found himself in serious financial difficulties and faced bankruptcy.

Fining Findlay £1,000 Judge Moorhouse told him he had relied heavily on the certificate issued by Mr Black, but it should have been obvious that the mountings were unsafe.

Black, 54, from West Lothian, in Scotland, will be sentenced today after he pleaded guilty to a similar charge.