At 16:19 09 December 2016, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
So how dangerous is wench launching compared to aero-tow? I only
had enough
wench launches to remove the "aero-tow only" off my ticket and that
was
years ago.

I do not have the figures but my answer would be as safe as any other
method of launching.
I do not know but I suspect the number of winch launches in the UK
runs to many thousands per year. Accidents like the one described are
very rare, the last recorded 4 years ago.
Aerotows tend to be more of a gotcha for tuggies but there are a lot
less of them so they are even less frequent.
Bungee launching tends to involve lighter gliders but has it's share of
accidents, very few fatal.
Winching is not for the unwary and less forgiving of errors than other
methods, more so since the introduction of modern powerful winches
with the ability to accelerate very very quickly.