Worn floodlight cable 'caused player's fatal shock'

Taxi driver Albert Xhediku was playing five-a-side football with friends before the fatal electric shock

An electric shock from a floodlight which killed a five-a-side footballer was caused by a worn power supply cable, an inquest has heard.

Albert Xhediku, 34, was electrocuted at the Mountbatten leisure centre in Portsmouth in January 2016.

He touched the floodlight as he climbed back over a fence after retrieving a ball, an inquest jury was told.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said no maintenance records for the electrical system were available.

Mr Xhediku screamed and could not release his grip on the tower as he straddled the fence on 17 January, the inquest heard.

He had to be pulled down by friends, who also suffered electric shocks, the jury was told.

The taxi driver, from Portsmouth, never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead in hospital an hour later.

Patrick McGinley of the HSE, who examined the floodlight system, said worn insulation on a power cable had put the floodlight live.

He said: "Over time, the movement of this cable had caused... the cable conductors to become exposed."

Emergency services were called to the leisure centre after the fatal shock in 2016

A separate loose connection in a junction box meant that "makeshift fuse wire" in the circuit did not trip, the jury heard.

Mr McGinley said he had asked for the leisure centre's electrical maintenance records, but none were provided by the time he finished his inquiry in June 2017.

"Due to the unsatisfactory condition of the electrical distribution system, I formed the opinion that the equipment was unsafe," he concluded.

Two other people previously reported suffering electric shocks from the equipment, the jury has heard.

One told a Mountbatten Centre manager in December 2015, the hearing was previously told.

The leisure complex was managed at the time by Parkwood Community Leisure on behalf of Portsmouth City Council, the court heard.

The inquest, which is due to last eight days, continues.