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Details of Event: 17 June 1954: £6750 Damages Awarded – Blantyre Colliery Accident - In two actions against the National Coal Board arising from the same accident in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, on June 20, 1954, damages totalling £6750 were awarded yesterday by a jury sitting with Lord Walker in the Court of Session. In both cases liability was admitted by the Board, and, the only question at issue was the amount of the awards. Peter Rooney, brusher, 70 Burnside Crescent, Blantyre, was awarded £4000, the sum for which he sued, in respect of injuries to his foot, leg, arm, and hands, which rendered him unfit for work. He was one of a number of workmen sent into the haulage road to repair the roof after a fall, and he stated that while engaged in clearing the road there was a second fall from the roof which struck him. He blamed the board for failing to appreciate that wooden props were not strong enough to support the roof, and for not introducing a system of roof support using steel girders in accordance with normal and approved mining practice. In the second case, Mrs Mary McGowan or Innes, 37 Nursery Place, High Blantyre, sued the board for £6000 in respect of the death of her husband, James Innes (52). She was awarded £2750. Innes was a member of the same team of workmen sent to repair the roof. He was killed instantly when the second fall occurred. Both he and Rooney were stated to have been earning £15 a week. [Glasgow Herald 7 December 1956]