AFTER a man's finger was severed when he assembled a treadmill, the supplier and its director were taken to court and hit with £36,000 in fines today.
James Max, from Aslockton, was building the £340 machine with his wife, Natalie, when its spring-loaded hydraulic arm flew open and trapped his right ring finger.
He was rushed to hospital but not nothing could be done to reconstruct the top portion of his right ring finger.
Mr Max contacted Nottinghamshire County Council's trading standards team.
And West Midlands based IRG Europe Ltd and one of its directors Donal James Sharkey, 31, of Valley Road, Portslade, were taken to court.
All pleaded guilty to supplying the treadmill to Mr Max, when it was not safely packaged, labelled and had insufficient instructions.
They also admitted three charges of possessing a large number of the machines with intent to supply them and not taking steps to relabel the treadmills after the accident.
Today the company was handed the fine of £30,000. Sharkey was additionally fined £6,000. The company has been ordered to pay £3,600 costs.
Mr Max, 37, said afterwards: "Losing part of my finger has had a significant impact on my life as much of my job is computer based so I find typing difficult now.
"There has been nerve damage so my finger is really sensitive and I've had two operations to reduce the pain.
"However, I dread to think what might have happened – I could have lost all of my fingers and luckily my one-year-old daughter at the time was in another room.
"I have since bought another treadmill and the warnings on the box and packaging were really large and clear."
Councillor Glynn Gilfoyle, Chair of Nottinghamshire County Council's Community Safety Committee, said: "This company has blatantly ignored current safety standards and have put their customers at risk of severe injury.
"Unfortunately, James Max has suffered greatly due their negligence which would have been avoided with proper warnings to prevent the treadmill from flipping up.
"All sellers have a responsibility to ensure that their products are safe and we will pursue those who flagrantly flout current safety standards."For the latest crime news, click here.
