A body which manages a major forest in Sussex has been fined after a husband and wife were struck by a tree; the latter suffering a traumatic brain injury.
Caroline Leafe, 70, was walking along a deer track in Ashdown Forest with her husband, Kenneth, and their dog, Monty, when the pair were hit by a silver birch tree being felled.
The Conservators of Ashdown Forest, the body that manages Ashdown Forest, had identified the 12-metre tree was rotting and needed to be cut down.
The tree was located in the corner of Broadstone Car Park in Upper Hartfield, East Sussex and surrounded by public footpaths, including the main pathway to the visitor centre.
The tree began to fall after a forest ranger made a sink cut with a chainsaw. As it was falling, the ranger noticed Mr. and Mrs. Leafe walking on the nearby deer track and attempted to warn them but it was too late.
Mrs. Leafe suffered a traumatic brain injury, a fractured collar bone, several fractured ribs and a shoulder dislocation. She spent considerable time in hospital following the incident and continues to undergo physical and cognitive therapy several months later. She also had to surrender her driving licence.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found The Conservators of Ashdown Forest failed to identify the risk to members of the public from tree felling. This meant precautions, such as posting warning signs and using barriers and banksmen, were not implemented to prevent members of the public from accessing areas where the tree felling was taking place.