Stunt pair on trial
The trial began this week for the pair accused of the manslaughter of an Oxford undergraduate in 2002 after he fell 100 feet from a human catapult.
Kostadin Yankov, known as 'Dino' to his friends, was a biochemistry fresher at Wadham College. The first year Bulgarian student joined the Oxford Stunt Factory upon arriving at the University in 2000, but was tragically killed on November 24th of the same year when he fell short of the safety net whilst taking part in a human catapult activity as part of a trip run by the OSF at Middlemoor waterpark near Bridgwater.
The fifty foot trebuchet, a replica of a medieval siege engine, was designed to fire a person one hundred feet through the air onto a safety net "the size of a tennis court." A 45-year-old woman previously broke her pelvis when she bounced out of the safety net after being thrown from the device.
Device operators Richard Wicks and David Aitkenhead are standing trial at Bristol Crown Court this week, and both deny the charge of unlawful killing due to gross negligence.
The court was told that the defendants failed to respond to early warning signs that something was wrong when four other participants fell short of the landing net, after a sling on the catapult was changed. The case continues.
29th Apr 2004