Leisure firm is ordered to pay £100,000 over death of five-a-side footballer, 34, electrocuted on pitch as he went to retrieve a ball

Published: 12:41, 17 June 2026 | Updated: 12:41, 17 June 2026 A leisure firm has been ordered to pay £100,000 following the death of a five-a-side footballer who was electrocuted on their pitch while trying to retrieve a ball.       Albert Xhediku, 34, 'screamed and suffered a seizure' after he was fatally shocked by a floodlight while playing football with friends at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth, Hants. An inquest into the 2016 incident heard that Mr Xhediku was at the top of a 12ft fence when the tragedy unfolded. His friends rushed to his aid and performed CPR but were sadly unable to revive him. Now, Parkwood Community Leisure Ltd - who ran the artificial pitch at the time - have been ordered to pay a total of £100,000 after the company admitted health and safety breaches at a magistrates' court. It comes after it was revealed the company were aware of a dangerous area of faulty wiring for years but no action was taken. Although multiple people, including a police officer, also suffered electric shocks from the same area, no action was taken to fix it.  The magistrates' court heard that Mr Xhediku had hired out a five-a-side pitch with some friends on January 17 2016. Albert Xhediku (pictured), 34, 'screamed and suffered a seizure' after he was fatally shocked by a floodlight while playing football with friends at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth, Hants Pictured: The football pitch after Mr Xhediku was fatally electrocuted. Now, Parkwood Community Leisure Ltd have been ordered to pay a total of £100,000 after the company admitted health and safety breaches at a magistrates' court After a ball went out of the pitch, Mr Xhediku started to climb over a fence when he made contact with a floodlight pylon - giving him an electric shock that caused him to suffer a seizure. His friends helped him down from the fence but he never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found there was 'worn and faulty wiring' on the floodlight which Parkwood Community Leisure had 'failed to properly inspect and maintain'. The HSE found that the wiring had been faulty for 'several years and no action had been taken to repair the equipment'. A month before the tragedy, an off-duty police officer received a shock from the same equipment and the incident was reported - but it was still not fixed. Parkwood Community Leisure, based in Chorley, Lancs, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. At Portsmouth Magistrates' Court, the company was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay costs of £40,000. HSE inspector Dominic Goacher said: 'This tragic incident should never have happened. 'What followed was a long and complex investigation. 'We found that the electrical system of the floodlight that resulted in Albert's death had already been identified by Parkwood as being in poor condition - yet they failed to take action to remedy the faults. 'This case is a stark reminder that effective systems must be put in place to properly assess and manage the risks posed by ageing infrastructure on their sites. 'As always, our thoughts remain with Albert's family and friends and we hope the conclusion of this case can offer them some comfort.' Mr Xhediku's friends said at the inquest, held in Portsmouth in 2019, that there was a control box at the base of the floodlight from which other players had received minor electric shocks. The inquest heard that the control box 'had not been monitored frequently' and had been temporarily fixed with tape. Devastated friends believe he effectively saved the life of a 13-year-old boy who usually goes to retrieve the ball for the group whenever they play. The youngster didn't go with the group of friends on this particular occasion and Mr Xhediku felt it was his responsibility to retrieve the ball as he had kicked it over. Another man who climbed the fence to retrieve a football had also been electrocuted by the floodlight just months earlier, and reported the incident to staff on site. A third man revealed after Mr Xhediku's death that he too had been electrocuted just weeks before, but did not report it to the leisure centre at the time. Fitim Noka, Mr Xhediku's cousin, said at the inquest: 'I was never happy with the service we had at the Mountbatten Centre. 'The staff never listened to our problems, that's why I didn't complain about some of the other players having small electric shocks before. 'It felt like no one would listen to us.' Mr Xhediku's family previously released a statement saying: 'Albert was a guy who did everything with all his heart. 'Even when he was just playing football with his friends, he played like it was the championships. 'He was our big brother and a loving son.' Parkwood Leisure manages 76 facilities throughout England and Wales. The Mountbatten Centre is a large leisure complex in the centre of Portsmouth, managed at the time by Parkwood Community Leisure on behalf of Portsmouth City Council. In a statement, Parkwood Community Leisure told BBC News: 'Everyone at PCL Ltd expresses our deepest and most sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Mr Albert Xhediku. 'We acknowledge that no legal outcome or financial penalty can lessen the profound loss experienced by the family and our thoughts remain entirely with them. 'While today brings the legal proceedings to a close, it does not diminish our unwavering commitment to the safety of everyone who walks through our doors and we are committed to ensuring an incident of this kind never happens again.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. 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