Incident Report: Man electrocuted on outdoor five-a-side pitch

Homepage > Incident Reports > Other

Albert Xhediku, a 34-year-old taxi driver, was electrocuted after climbing over a fence to retrieve a football at the Mountbatten Leisure Centre in Portsmouth. On Sunday, 17 January 2016, Albert attended Mountbatten Leisure Centre to play five-a-side with friends on an outdoor astroturf pitch at the centre. 

At around 18:30, when the ball was kicked over the fence, Albert proceeded to climb over a fence to retrieve the ball. He collected the ball, but before he could reclimb the fence, he touched a floodlight lamppost and received a fatal shock. Despite the best efforts of friends and centre staff, Albert died from his injuries. 

The inquest into Albert's death heard evidence that the floodlight had not been inspected as frequently as it should have been before the incident. The site, which was run by management contractor Parkwood Community Leisure on behalf of Portsmouth City Council, told the inquest that repairs had since been carried out to the floodlight.

An off-duty police officer, Simon Tam, also told the inquest that he had received a nasty electric shock from the floodlight on 1 December 2015. He told the leisure centre and was told it would be logged. 

A spokesman for Parkwood Community Leisure said (Guardian, 2019):

“We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to Albert Xhediku’s family and friends at this extremely difficult time. As a company we have always taken health and safety extremely seriously and we are fully committed to delivering high standards and a quality public service at all our centres.

Since the incident, we have worked with the relevant authorities to establish what happened and prevent the recurrence of a similar incident in the future.”

References

Al-Othman, H. 2016. Man dies after electric shock at artificial football pitch. Evening Standard, 18 January. Available at https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/man-dies-after-being-electrocuted-at-artificial-football-pitch-a3158871.html accessed 29 January 2023.

BBC News. 2016. Electric shock death on Mountbatten Leisure Centre football pitch. 18 January. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-hampshire-35349008 accessed 29 January 2023.

BBC News. 2016. Man dies after electric shock at Mountbatten Leisure Centre. 18 January. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-35340923 accessed 29 January 2023.

BBC News. 2019. Portsmouth floodlight fault logged before fatal shock. 25 September. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-49826198 accessed 29 January 2023.

Binding, L. 2019. Man dies in electrocution during five-a-side football game with friends, inquest hears. Sky News, 23 September, 17:10. Available at https://news.sky.com/story/man-dies-in-electrocution-during-five-a-side-football-game-with-friends-inquest-hears-11817881 accessed 29 January 2023.

Carter, H. 2019. Taxi driver, 34, electrocuted after touching floodlight as he fetched football during five-a-side match. The Sun, 23 September, 15:14. Available at https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9987296/taxi-driver-electrocuted-football-match/ accessed 29 January 2023.

Cotterill, T. 2019. Family of Portsmouth taxi driver who was electrocuted demand a thorough examination of his death. The News, 10 April, 18:27. Available at https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/family-portsmouth-taxi-driver-who-was-electrocuted-demand-thorough-examination-his-death-1316737 accessed 29 January 2023.

Drummond, M. and Jolly, B. 2019. Man died after being electrocuted by floodlight playing five-a-side football. Mirror, 23 September, 18:54. Available at https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/man-died-after-being-electrocuted-20159577 accessed 29 January 2023.

Hudson, N. 2019. Officer in nasty electric shock at sports pitch month before taxi driver died fetching a football. Police Oracle, 28 September. Available at https://www.policeoracle.com/news/police_staff/2019/Sep/28/Officer-in-nasty-electric-shock-at-sports-pitch-month-before-taxi-driver-died-fetching-a-football_102906.html accessed 29 January 2023.

ITV News. 2016. Council saddened by football pitch death. 18 January, 11:00. Available at https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2016-01-18/council-saddened-by-football-pitch-death/ accessed 29 January 2023.

ITV News. 2016. Investigation continue after man dies of electric shock. 18 January, 08:48. Available at https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2016-01-18/investigation-continue-after-man-dies-of-electric-shock/ accessed 29 January 2023.

ITV News. 2016. Investigation into football pitch incident continue. 18 January, 16:54. Available at https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2016-01-18/investigation-into-football-pitch-incident-continue/ accessed 29 January 2023.

ITV News. 2016. Man dies following electric shock at football pitch. 18 January, 05:58. Available at https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2016-01-18/man-dies-following-electric-shock-at-football-pitch/ accessed 29 January 2023.

ITV News. 2016. Man suffered electric shock on outdoor football pitch. 18 January, 10:23. Available at https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2016-01-18/man-suffered-electric-shock-on-outdoor-football-pitch/ accessed 29 January 2023.

ITV News. 2016. Police appeal over football pitch electric shock death. 18 January, 13:49. Available at https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2016-01-18/police-appeal-over-football-pitch-electric-shock-death/ accessed 29 January 2023.

ITV News. 2016. Police confirm incident at Portsmouth leisure centre. 18 January, 08:44. Available at https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2016-01-18/police-confirm-incident-at-portsmouth-leisure-centre/ accessed 29 January 2023.

ITV News. 2016. Reaction to football pitch death in Portsmouth. 18 January, 12:10. Available at https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2016-01-18/reaction-to-football-pitch-death-in-portsmouth/ accessed 29 January 2023.

Jackson, S. 2019. Man who died playing five-a-side football was electrocuted by floodlight. Daily Star, 24 September, 09:30; first published 08:45. Available at https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/man-who-died-playing-five-20162930 accessed 29 January 2023.

Jamieson, S. 2016. Taxi driver, 34, dies after electric shock at Portsmouth football pitch. The Telegraph, 18 January, 09:21. Available at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12105028/Man-dies-after-electric-shock-at-Portsmouth-football-pitch.html accessed 29 January 2023.

Melton, R. 2019. Police officer suffered nasty electric shock at Portsmouth sports pitch a month before taxi driver was electrocuted. The News, 26 September, 07:00. Available at https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/crime/police-officer-suffered-nasty-electric-shock-at-portsmouth-sports-pitch-a-month-before-taxi-driver-was-electrocuted-1308817 accessed 29 January 2023.

Mitchell, B. and Gibbons, L. 2019. Liverpool fan electrocuted while playing five-a-side by faulty floodlight. Liverpool Echo, 2 October, 13:20. Available at https://www.inkl.com/news/liverpool-fan-electrocuted-while-playing-five-a-side-by-faulty-floodlight accessed 29 January 2023.

Nelson, S. 2019. Taxi driver killed by electric shock while fetching football during five-a-side match. Huffington Post, 23 September, 14:26. Available at https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/taxi-driver-electrocuted-while-fetching-football-during-five-a-side-match_uk_5d88c5afe4b0957256ba7686 accessed 29 January 2023.

Newton, J. 2016. Taxi driver who died after being electrocuted on all-weather football pitch as he tried to climb fence to get ball back in the rain. Mail Online, 19 January, 08:57; first published 18 January, 10:59. Available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3404740/Man-dies-electrocuted-artificial-seven-football-pitch-surrounded-metal-cage.html accessed 29 January 2023.

Nikolic, I. 2019. Taxi driver, 34, who was playing football with friends in the rain was electrocuted by a faulty floodlight that had been repaired with sellotape. Mail Online, 24 September, 07:32; first published 01:57. Available at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7496921/Taxi-driver-34-electrocuted-floodlight-repaired-sellotape-inquest-hears.html accessed 29 January 2023.

Palmer, E. 2016. Man dies after being electrocuted on Mountbatten Leisure Centre football pitch. International Business News, 18 January, 11:38. Available at https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/portsmouth-man-dies-after-being-electrocuted-mountbatten-leisure-centre-football-pitch-1538546 accessed 29 January 2023.

Payton, M. 2016. Man dies after being electrocuted on Portsmouth football pitch. Independent, 18 January, 18:21. Available at https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/man-dies-after-being-electrocuted-on-portsmouth-football-pitch-a6819826.html accessed 29 January 2023.

Press Association. 2019. Accidental death verdict for man electrocuted on football pitch. The Guardian, 2 October, 12:34. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/02/accidental-death-verdict-for-man-electrocuted-on-football-pitch accessed 29 January 2023.

Southern Daily Echo. 2016. Man believed to have been electrocuted on football pitch in Portsmouth. 19 January. Available at https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/14211170.man-believed-to-have-been-electrocuted-on-football-pitch-in-portsmouth/ accessed 29 January 2023.

The Herald. 2016. Man dies after suffering electric shock at outdoor football pitch. 18 January. Available at https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14211477.man-dies-suffering-electric-shock-outdoor-football-pitch/ accessed 29 January 2023.

Wheatstone, R. 2016. Man dies after being electrocuted at artificial football pitch in Portsmouth. Irish Mirror, 18 January, 14:58; first published 09:24. Available at https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/world-news/man-dies-after-being-electrocuted-7197406 accessed 29 January 2023.

Winchester, L. 2016. Tragic taxi driver electrocuted to death after climbing fence to retrieve football. Express, 18 January, 18:27; first published 00:00. Available at https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/635829/Taxi-driver-electrocuted-football accessed 29 January 2023.

Citation. Jacklin, D. 2023. Man electrocuted on outdoor five-a-side pitch. Water Incident Research Hub, 29 January.