PARENTS everywhere may well give a wry smile as they read the story of the Horwich dad who decided to try out a pogo stick for his daughter with disastrous results.

John Riley's fall led to a long legal battle, with a final settlement of £14,000 plus costs of nearly £10,000 after he claimed that the rubber end of the stick flew off, sending him flying and injuring his back.

Testing out toys before buying them for offspring appears to be something that adults feel forms a part of parental duties. This tends to apply to everything from bikes and scooters to Star Wars' figures and Scalextric.

Perhaps parents will now take John's experiences as a cautionary tale, and toy shops might consider putting signs on items saying "Mums and Dads - don't try this at home!"

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.