A prisoner working in a jail kitchen was knocked out by 11 falling boxes of potatoes, weighing just over 17-stone, reports dailymail.co.uk.
He had just finished peeling vegetables when he went to return a bag of carrots to the jail's walk-in fridge, and as he bent to put the carrots down, the boxes fell on his head, knocking him out cold. He is now planning to sue the prison service.
According to his solicitors, who have not identified the inmate or the prison where he is incarcerated, the inmate was 'knocked for six'.
Solicitor Rhonda Hesling, of Hesling Henriques solicitors, based in West Malling, Kent, said her firm was helping the prisoner in his fight for compensation.
Writing in prisoners' magazine Converse last week, the solicitor said:
'The potato boxes (weighing about 10kg each) had been stacked in the store room by someone who was in a hurry or by someone who had not been trained properly.
'Upon impact he was thrown headlong into a metal shelf and was knocked out cold.'
She said he lay on the floor unconscious until another inmate found him and raised the alarm.
She said: 'Our client came to and was able to confirmed that he had pains in both his back and neck.
'It was decided that it was way too risky to move our client and as a consequence he was left lying on the floor of the fridge for an hour and a half until the ambulance arrived.
'Upon his arrival at hospital he was X-rayed and he was relieved to learn that he had not fractured any bones in his neck or his back that might have led to lasting damage.'
She added: 'That said, he had a badly bruised back and was suffering from muscle spasms and unrelenting headaches.'
A Prison Service spokesperson said: 'We robustly defend claims made against the Prison Service where evidence allows, and have managed to successfully defend two thirds of prisoner claims over the last three years.'
