Man attacks climbing frame after girl is hurt

A man wearing a hooded top took a chainsaw to a school climbing frame that parents had claimed was dangerous.

Although some parents applauded the attack, Jan Bonus, the headteacher at Stogursey primary school, Somerset, said that pupils were upset by the destruction of the frame, which had stood in the playground for almost 20 years.

Parents said that several children had been hurt swinging from the bars and last term a girl broke her arm after losing her grip, triggering a petition for the frame’s removal.

The man was seen attacking the wooden frame at 8.20pm last Wednesday. He produced the chainsaw from the back of his Rover and began chopping the frame into pieces.

Marcus Maynard, whose son attends the school, said: “We’ve been saying for a few years that the monkey bars are dangerous. They are too high, particularly for very young children. I know this person should not have taken matters into his own hands, but at least we’re not sitting at home and praying our children will be OK now.”