01-28-2011, 02:29 PM
Many news reports today- this one from the Daily Telegraph, who also posted a video from the funeral. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8...joust.html
Time Team horseman killed by lance fragment during joust
Paul Allen, 54, died after a splinter penetrated his eye socket and brain as the event was being filmed.
His inquest heard that he had never jousted before and had asked to do it on the morning of the shoot. Yesterday calls were made for proper guidelines for the sport to be introduced.
The accident happened during a warm-up run for a sequence to have been used in a special edition of the archaeological programme, which is hosted the actor Tony Robinson and was being filmed in Rockingham Castle in Corby, Northants.
Mr Allen was airlifted to hospital with the splinter of balsa wood still in his eye and his eye hanging from its socket, the inquest heard. He had an operation to remove the splinter, which penetrated 13cm (five inches) into his head, but his condition did not improve and he died a week later.
The cause of death was given as cardio-respiratory failure and a severe penetrating brain injury.
In a statement read by the Northamptonshire coroner, Anne Pember, Mr Allen's widow, Sharon McCann, said they had both been involved in re-enactment for around 14 years.
Around 10 years before the accident, Mr Allen, from Heydon, Cambs, had given up his job teaching English, drama and history to concentrate on re-enactment, but had never done a jousting performance before.
The inquest heard Mr Allen was due to receive the blow with a lance wielded by fellow rider Adam Plant, in a re-enactment of Edward III's court, and was not due to strike a blow himself.
Mr Plant, from Old Ellerby, Hull, said the pair discussed their respective riding experience and he had been satisfied that Mr Allen was an experienced horseman.
They had practised the joust several times before taking to the field for the cameras, riding horses and wearing helmets provided by Claire Chamberlain's company StableStars, a regular supplier of horses for re-enactments.
Mr Plant told the inquest: "Paul was at one end of the field, we both had a lance on and we were ready to go. We got up to speed to make contact at the point agreed by the filming crew and as we were coming down I lowered the lance to his shield in the middle.
"I believe I did hit it in the middle."
In a report read to the court, Mike Loades, a jousting expert from San Francisco, in the US, said Mr Allen had an unsuitable helmet and was holding his shield incorrectly.
He said the helmet, called a Great Helm, was suitable only for carnival jousting as its eye holes were too big and the top part of it did not protrude enough in the lower part, which could have directed the lance away from his eyes.
Unlike specialised jousting helmets, Mr Allen's had breathing holes on both sides which meant the lance could catch on the indents.
His report also found Mr Allen was holding his shield in the way it should have been held for infantry, rather than cavalry.
He said: "The accident just may have been avoided with a faster closing speed but it may not; certainly it would not have had the same consequence with a proper helm.
"The key to jousting is the correct body equipment.
"If the armour is right, then any other mistakes will be relatively harmless."
Mr Loades said jousting had an extremely good safety record and that record should not be compromised by this incident, but also called for proper guidelines to be issued on jousting.
The inquest heard that two other men, Robin Martin and Dominic Sewell, were initially planned to be the riders but could not make it when the shoot was changed to a weekday.
John Naylor, who helped source re-enacters and equipment for the shoot, which was being filmed by production company Videotext Communications, said he was originally due to be one of the riders, but had let Mr Allen ride as a favour.
He said: "I originally was going to ride. Paul was a very determined man, it was one of his ambitions to ride as a knight. He loved the camera, he loved to be centre of attention.
"On this particular day I had already spent a large portion of the morning doing readings and pieces to camera.
"Paul wanted to have a bite of the cherry so it was a favour to a friend.
"He said 'Can I do the ride?'. I said 'As far as I'm concerned, you're as good as me. If you want it, it's yours'."
He said although Mr Allen had never taken a breaking lance, he had taken breaking weapons before, such as shields that were designed to break on impact, and had practised with a quintain - a mounted target for jousters to practise on.
Mr Allen's filming that day was later shown on Channel 4 after a request by his family.
The coroner recorded a narrative verdict, saying there had been several failures resulting in the accident: to engage a rider with a proven track record of lance-breaking jousting, to ensure the correct helmet or helm for jousting was used and to ensure that the shield had been appropriately assembled for jousting purposes.
She passed her condolences to Mr Allen's family but added: "I know Mr Allen was doing what he absolutely loved when he met his untimely death."
After the inquest, held in Kettering, Northants, Mr Allen's wife, Sharon McCann, said: "If he could have written his script this would have been his chosen end.
"I believe that those involved were acting in good faith.
"With hindsight there may be lessons to be learned which, I hope, will prevent anything similar happening again."
From Metro
Stuntman died after splinter speared eye, inquest told
A stuntman was killed when a splinter from his wood lance penetrated through a slit in his helmet and entered his eye socket, an inquest heard.
Related Tags
aul Allenfailurehelmetinquestshield
Paul Allen, who had never jousted before despite practising with a lance and shield, received a blow during a re-enactment for Channel 4’s Time Team programme.
A piece of balsa wood tip flew through the eye-slit of his helmet and penetrated 13cm (5in) into his head.
Inquest: Paul Allen (Pic: Collect)
The accident happened during a warm-up session for the programme hosted by former Blackadder star Tony Robinson at Rockingham Castle in Corby, Northamptonshire.
The 54-year-old jouster was airlifted to University Hospital Coventry and Warwick but died on September 20, 2007 – seven days later.
His cause of death was given as cardio-respiratory failure and a severe penetrating brain injury.
In a report read to the court, jousting expert Mike Loades said Mr Allen, from Heyden, Cambridgeshire, had an unsuitable helmet and he was holding his shield wrong.
‘The key to jousting is the correct body equipment,’ he said.
‘If the armour is right, then any other mistakes will be relatively harmless.’
Northamptonshire coroner Anne Pember gave a narrative verdict.
She said failures ‘to engage a rider with a proven track record of lance-breaking jousting’, to ensure the ‘correct helmet was used’, and to ensure the ‘shield had been appropriately assembled’ led to Mr Allen’s death.
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/853964-stunt...z1CJkWGIK5
Time Team horseman killed by lance fragment during joust
Paul Allen, 54, died after a splinter penetrated his eye socket and brain as the event was being filmed.
His inquest heard that he had never jousted before and had asked to do it on the morning of the shoot. Yesterday calls were made for proper guidelines for the sport to be introduced.
The accident happened during a warm-up run for a sequence to have been used in a special edition of the archaeological programme, which is hosted the actor Tony Robinson and was being filmed in Rockingham Castle in Corby, Northants.
Mr Allen was airlifted to hospital with the splinter of balsa wood still in his eye and his eye hanging from its socket, the inquest heard. He had an operation to remove the splinter, which penetrated 13cm (five inches) into his head, but his condition did not improve and he died a week later.
The cause of death was given as cardio-respiratory failure and a severe penetrating brain injury.
In a statement read by the Northamptonshire coroner, Anne Pember, Mr Allen's widow, Sharon McCann, said they had both been involved in re-enactment for around 14 years.
Around 10 years before the accident, Mr Allen, from Heydon, Cambs, had given up his job teaching English, drama and history to concentrate on re-enactment, but had never done a jousting performance before.
The inquest heard Mr Allen was due to receive the blow with a lance wielded by fellow rider Adam Plant, in a re-enactment of Edward III's court, and was not due to strike a blow himself.
Mr Plant, from Old Ellerby, Hull, said the pair discussed their respective riding experience and he had been satisfied that Mr Allen was an experienced horseman.
They had practised the joust several times before taking to the field for the cameras, riding horses and wearing helmets provided by Claire Chamberlain's company StableStars, a regular supplier of horses for re-enactments.
Mr Plant told the inquest: "Paul was at one end of the field, we both had a lance on and we were ready to go. We got up to speed to make contact at the point agreed by the filming crew and as we were coming down I lowered the lance to his shield in the middle.
"I believe I did hit it in the middle."
In a report read to the court, Mike Loades, a jousting expert from San Francisco, in the US, said Mr Allen had an unsuitable helmet and was holding his shield incorrectly.
He said the helmet, called a Great Helm, was suitable only for carnival jousting as its eye holes were too big and the top part of it did not protrude enough in the lower part, which could have directed the lance away from his eyes.
Unlike specialised jousting helmets, Mr Allen's had breathing holes on both sides which meant the lance could catch on the indents.
His report also found Mr Allen was holding his shield in the way it should have been held for infantry, rather than cavalry.
He said: "The accident just may have been avoided with a faster closing speed but it may not; certainly it would not have had the same consequence with a proper helm.
"The key to jousting is the correct body equipment.
"If the armour is right, then any other mistakes will be relatively harmless."
Mr Loades said jousting had an extremely good safety record and that record should not be compromised by this incident, but also called for proper guidelines to be issued on jousting.
The inquest heard that two other men, Robin Martin and Dominic Sewell, were initially planned to be the riders but could not make it when the shoot was changed to a weekday.
John Naylor, who helped source re-enacters and equipment for the shoot, which was being filmed by production company Videotext Communications, said he was originally due to be one of the riders, but had let Mr Allen ride as a favour.
He said: "I originally was going to ride. Paul was a very determined man, it was one of his ambitions to ride as a knight. He loved the camera, he loved to be centre of attention.
"On this particular day I had already spent a large portion of the morning doing readings and pieces to camera.
"Paul wanted to have a bite of the cherry so it was a favour to a friend.
"He said 'Can I do the ride?'. I said 'As far as I'm concerned, you're as good as me. If you want it, it's yours'."
He said although Mr Allen had never taken a breaking lance, he had taken breaking weapons before, such as shields that were designed to break on impact, and had practised with a quintain - a mounted target for jousters to practise on.
Mr Allen's filming that day was later shown on Channel 4 after a request by his family.
The coroner recorded a narrative verdict, saying there had been several failures resulting in the accident: to engage a rider with a proven track record of lance-breaking jousting, to ensure the correct helmet or helm for jousting was used and to ensure that the shield had been appropriately assembled for jousting purposes.
She passed her condolences to Mr Allen's family but added: "I know Mr Allen was doing what he absolutely loved when he met his untimely death."
After the inquest, held in Kettering, Northants, Mr Allen's wife, Sharon McCann, said: "If he could have written his script this would have been his chosen end.
"I believe that those involved were acting in good faith.
"With hindsight there may be lessons to be learned which, I hope, will prevent anything similar happening again."
From Metro
Stuntman died after splinter speared eye, inquest told
A stuntman was killed when a splinter from his wood lance penetrated through a slit in his helmet and entered his eye socket, an inquest heard.
Related Tags
aul AllenfailurehelmetinquestshieldPaul Allen, who had never jousted before despite practising with a lance and shield, received a blow during a re-enactment for Channel 4’s Time Team programme.
A piece of balsa wood tip flew through the eye-slit of his helmet and penetrated 13cm (5in) into his head.
Inquest: Paul Allen (Pic: Collect)
The accident happened during a warm-up session for the programme hosted by former Blackadder star Tony Robinson at Rockingham Castle in Corby, Northamptonshire.
The 54-year-old jouster was airlifted to University Hospital Coventry and Warwick but died on September 20, 2007 – seven days later.
His cause of death was given as cardio-respiratory failure and a severe penetrating brain injury.
In a report read to the court, jousting expert Mike Loades said Mr Allen, from Heyden, Cambridgeshire, had an unsuitable helmet and he was holding his shield wrong.
‘The key to jousting is the correct body equipment,’ he said.
‘If the armour is right, then any other mistakes will be relatively harmless.’
Northamptonshire coroner Anne Pember gave a narrative verdict.
She said failures ‘to engage a rider with a proven track record of lance-breaking jousting’, to ensure the ‘correct helmet was used’, and to ensure the ‘shield had been appropriately assembled’ led to Mr Allen’s death.
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/853964-stunt...z1CJkWGIK5
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