Accident Reporter A court in Leeds has approved a settlement of compensation for hospital mistakes made during the birth of a young girl who now suffers from athetoid cerebral palsy. Judge Mark Gosnell at the High Court in Leeds was told of the circumstances preceding the birth of Ruby Curtis from Garforth in West Yorkshire; who was … Read more
A janitor has been awarded compensation for a slip on ice at school – the injuries from which resulted in him losing his job. In November 2010, Stephen McKeown from Port Glasgow in Inverclyde worked as a janitor at St Stephen´s High School in Port Glasgow. One week, he was asked to cover for the … Read more
Figures provided for the BBC under a Freedom of Information request have revealed that school injury compensation claims cost Welsh education authorities more than £800,000 (over $1 million) in the five years to 2013. A range of accidents and injuries were included in the figures which covered 312 school injury compensation claims made by parents … Read more
A cyclist, who now requires full-time care after a collision with a car in 2005, has been awarded £5.3 million in compensation for a cycling injury after an eight-year legal battle. Toby Phethean-Hubble (24) from Knowle in Shropshire was just sixteen years of age when, in November 2005, he attempted to cycle across the road … Read more
Changes to personal injury claims procedures introduced on 1st August 2013 will speed up compensation settlements in claims with a value of up to £25,000. The second of two changes to the Civil Procedure Rules took effect on 1st August 2013, and whereas the changes to the personal injury claims procedures in April of this … Read more
The £7 million settlement of a motorcycle accident injury claim, made on behalf of a Brazilian woman who suffered brain damage after an accident in London, has been approved in the High Court. The claim for motorcycle accident injury compensation was made on behalf of Barbara Oliva (26) from Sao Paulo in Brazil by her … Read more
A woman, who worked at the Chivas Brothers bottling plant in Kilmalid, is to receive compensation for a crushed hand at work injury after a hearing at the Court of Session. In October 2009, Carol Kennedy from Dumbarton sustained a hand injury while working for the world-famous whisky manufacturer in their Kilmalid bottling plant, when … Read more
Figures released by the Compensation Recovery Unit of the DWP have revealed an 18.4 percent in the number of injury claims for NHS negligence settled in the past year. According to statistics recently published, the Compensation Recovery Unit recovered state benefits and healthcare costs from 16,006 injury claims for NHS negligence in 2012/2013 – an … Read more
A teenage girl, who suffered devastating injuries when an inflatable ring she was riding in crashed into a moored boat, has had a settlement of her injury claim for a powerboat accident approved at the High Court. Rebecca Coles (now 19) from Langdon Hills near Basildon in Essex sustained her injuries in an accident on … Read more
Haringey Council in North London has announced plans to revise the frequency at which potholes on pavements are inspected and repaired in a bid to reduce injury claims for trips on sidewalk potholes. The decision to invest more resources into maintaining the council´s streets and pavements follows the seven-figure compensation settlement of an injury claim … Read more
A Derbyshire food company has received a significant fine after it was found negligent and liable for a work injury due to a lack of training. The injury occurred to a male employee working in the Loscoe Chilled Foods plant in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, in November 2011 when he attempted to remove meat which was stuck … Read more
A butcher´s firm in Lewisham, South-East London, has received a fine from Westminster Magistrates after an employee suffered an avoidable work injury due to the lack of protective equipment. The employee – who did not wish to be named – was deboning a lamb shoulder at Rare Butchers of Distinction in July 2012, when the … Read more
A man who was left in a coma after being hit by a car in Rome has had a settlement of compensation for a pedestrian injury on holiday approved in court. James Kennedy (37) from Gosforth in Newcastle was holidaying in Rome with university friends when, on 14 January 2006, he was hit by a … Read more
A business administration student from Birmingham is to receive more than £1 million pedestrian compensation for being hit by a car following a negotiated settlement. The undisclosed sum will be paid to Lee Edge (21) from the city´s suburb of King´s Heath after an agreement was reached on how much compensation he should be entitled … Read more
Victim support groups have criticised the government´s proposals to provide mesothelioma compensation settlements to former employees who contracted an asbestos-related disease in the workplace and who are unable to trace their former employer to claim compensation. Details of the Mesothelioma Bill were announced last week in the Queen´s Speech and were widely welcomed by government … Read more
The Appeal Court has found Devon Council jointly negligent in a pothole crash injury claim following a car accident on the C-25 which left one passenger brain damaged and a second tetraplegic. The accident, which happened in November 2006, occurred when a Land Rover driver – identified as “TR” – overtook a slow moving car … Read more
A family´s claim for the misdiagnosis of terminal lung cancer has been resolved out of court following the death of Frank Golby in February 2012. Frank, who was aged 65 at the time of his death, had been referred to Coventry University Hospital in May 2010 by his family GP after complaining of a persistent … Read more
A postman is to receive £7,300 compensation for spine injuries in a cycling accident following the negotiated settlement of his injury claim against his employers. David Thompson (62) made his claim following a cycling accident in December 2011, when he was knocked off of his bicycle by a Royal Mail van while returning home from … Read more
A former maintenance officer, who was forced to retire from his job after an accident at work, has been awarded £17,000 compensation in settlement of his claim for a fall down stairs at work. The unnamed 61-year-old from Wakefield in West Yorkshire was employed at the West Yorkshire Police Headquarters in November 2008 when his … Read more
A factory worker who injured two metatarsals in his left foot after he was provided with the wrong equipment to move alloy bars is to receive £6,500 compensation for fracturing a foot at work. Michael Kirby (47) from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, sustained his injury while working as a machine operator for local company Ross & … Read more
Work injury settlements for teachers have increased by almost 24 percent according to figures released for 2012 by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT). The total amount of compensation recovered for teachers who sustained avoidable injuries at school in 2012 is estimated to be in excess of £25 million after the … Read more
A settlement of a child brain injury claim for compensation amounting to £7.3 million has been approved at the High Court in London by Mr Justice Tugendhat. The settlement related to a claim made by Robbie Crane (13) of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, who in October 1999 underwent surgery when only three days old to correct … Read more
Figures acquired by the East Anglian Daily Times have revealed that Essex County Council paid £222,137 in compensation for pupils injured at school between 2008 and 2010. The compensation settlements account for seventeen successful claims for pupils injured at school during the three year period – with several claims for accidents which occurred in 2011 … Read more
A Stansted Airport worker, who suffered a broken back after being hit by a luggage towing vehicle, has resolved his claim for compensation for baggage handler injuries for an undisclosed settlement. Mick Draper (64) from Braintree, Essex, made his claim for baggage handler injuries after an investigation into his accident at Stansted Airport in March … Read more
The Court of Sessions in Edinburgh is currently hearing a claim for being hit in the eye by a golf ball, in which the claimant is alleging he was partially blinded due to the negligence of a golfer. The claim was made by 70 year-old David McMahon of Leven in Fife, who was acting as … Read more
Compensation for a slip on water in a hotel room has been awarded to a Lanarkshire woman who sustained head injuries while on holiday in Tenerife. Sylvia McNicholl (49) from Coatbridge in North Lanarkshire sustained her injuries while on a family holiday in the Fanabe Costa Sur Hotel in Tenerife in May 2008. On the … Read more
A former employee of bathroom appliance manufacturer Armitage Shanks has been awarded £160,000 in compensation for working with asbestos in a factory. 76-year-old Eli Richards for Great Wyrley, near Walsall, worked for the Armitage Shanks factory in Bushbury, Wolverhampton as a tool maker from 1979 until his retirement. Eli had been a very fit man … Read more
A school crossing guard, who was knocked over by a hit and run driver while helping children cross the road, has settled her hit and run compensation claim with the driver´s insurers. Forty-nine year old Karen Littler from Wigan in Lancashire was hit by the Honda Insight driven by Ceris Lovett while she was helping … Read more
A claim for an assault course accident, in which a Hampshire scout leader fractured a vertebra in his back, has been resolved in the High Court for £167,514. Robert Wilson (49) from Bordon in Hampshire made his claim for assault course accident compensation after sustaining an injury while leading his scout troop on the Challenge … Read more
A woman has been awarded £35,000 in compensation for a failed gastric band operation after doctors negligently failed to close an incision in her stomach which led to complications. Rachel Benefer (28) – a mother of two from Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire – underwent the operation in 2007 at the Classic Hospital in Hull after her weight … Read more
The High Court in London has upheld a nurse manual handling injury claim for compensation after finding the senior nurse in question not guilty of contributing to her own injuries. In March 2008, senior nurse Sue Germaine was employed by Epsom Hospital in the Outpatients Department. Arriving early at work one morning to prepare the … Read more
There is still time for many former and current British Telecom employees, who have sustained a loss of hearing due to using faulty testing sets, to claim BT workers hearing injury compensation. In August 2010 – in the case of Watkins v British Telecommunications – BT admitted that workers involved in the testing, tracing and … Read more
The widower of a woman who died following a “routine” hernia operation is to receive £150,000 compensation for fatal negligent hospital procedure in an out-of-court settlement. Helen Blyth (79) underwent the hernia operation at Northampton General Hospital on 2nd March 2010 after being diagnosed with a large hiatus hernia which had entered her chest through … Read more
A man, who badly fractured his ankle after a fall into a landscaping feature intended to stop animals roaming into the grounds of Hopetoun House, has been awarded £8,750 stately home injury compensation at the Court of Sessions in Edinburgh. John Cowan from Livingston, West Lothian, had been visiting the historic building with his five-year-old … Read more
The Chief Executive of the Medical Defence Union – Dr Christine Tomkins – has claimed that the current level of hospital negligence compensation settlements is bankrupting the National Health Service. Speaking a guest on the BBC´s ‘Today’ program, Dr Tomkins told presenter Justin Webb that, due to the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act of 1948, … Read more
A woman, who sustained a blunt closed head injury when a store sign fell from its fascia and struck her, has resolved her compensation claim for a shop sign injury after a court hearing. The woman – identified as Ms Benham (61) – brought her claim for shop sign injury against the tReds shoe shop … Read more
Residents of the Abbey Road Estate in Camden will now be able to claim carbon monoxide poisoning compensation after the property services company – whose actions caused seven residents to be hospitalised – were found guilty of negligence at the Central Criminal Court. The news that those who suffered an injury in the incident will … Read more
A woman who suffered substantial ligament damage in a workplace accident has had her claim for slipping on a pallet at work settled out of court. Katrin Weiss from Intake, South Yorkshire, worked as the operations manager for Bereco Ltd – a window frame and door manufacturer based in Rotherham – when her accident happened … Read more
A woman, who was found to be fourteen weeks pregnant during a hysterectomy procedure, has successfully made a claim for gynaecological negligence compensation against the Royal Cornwall Hospital. The unnamed woman underwent the hysterectomy procedure in November 2007, during which it was discovered that she was fourteen weeks pregnant. The procedure had been allowed to … Read more
A mother of two, who developed reflex sympathetic dystrophy after she tripped over a wheelchair strap and dislocated her finger when she fell, has been awarded £800,000 compensation for tripping at school in an out-of-court settlement. Julie Anne Huddart (49) tripped over the strap as she was trying to move the empty wheelchair at the … Read more
The North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust has admitted liability in three compensation claims for breast screening errors which erroneously indicated that the women were not suffering from breast cancer. The claims for compensation were made following the suspension of the breast screening service at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and the West Cumberland Hospital … Read more
The High Court has approved a settlement of compensation for being paralysed in an accident for a 17 year old girl who lost the use of her legs after being involved in a car crash in which her mother died. Agnes Collier from Naunton in Gloucestershire was just 13 years of age when the car … Read more
Eight employees at a factory that make shock absorbers have filed a claim for exposure to chemicals at work after suffering health problems as a result of exposure to hexavalent chromium. The eight men, from Hartwell in Georgia, have all been diagnosed with nasal injuries and respiratory problems due to working at the Tenneco plant … Read more
A university employee, who sustained an articular cartilage injury after slipping and falling on a wet floor at the University of East Anglia, has been awarded £50,000 in compensation for a knee cartilage injury. The employee – identified only as Ms Turnbull (48) – slipped on rain water that had been walked into the corridors … Read more
A family who made a claim for delayed treatment after their son suffered brain damage at birth are to receive a compensation package estimated to be worth six million pounds. Joseph O´Reggio (11) from Wolverhampton, West Midlands, was delivered at the city´s New Cross Hospital in April 2001 following an alleged failure by the hospital … Read more
An office worker, who sustained serious physical and psychological injuries after the lift she was travelling in fell twenty-three floors, has been awarded more than 13 million dollars in compensation for an accident in a lift. Janice Beasley (41) from Jacksonville in Florida was alone in the lift when her ordeal began. Travelling down from … Read more
A twelve-year-old boy, who suffered life-changing injuries after being struck by a baseball, has had a boys sports injury claim for compensation resolved out of court for 14.5 million dollars. The boy – Steven Domalewski (now 18) from Wayne in New Jersey – was playing as a pitcher in a Police Athletic League game in … Read more
Figures released by the Department for Works and Pensions Compensation Recovery Unit have revealed that claims for whiplash injury compensation have fallen year-on-year by more than 4 percent. A total of 547,405 claims for whiplash injury compensation were recorded by the Compensation Recovery Unit in 2011/2012, whereas in the previous twelve months 571,111 whiplash injury … Read more
Following the recall of the popular Bumbo Baby Sitters in the US and Canada, parents in the UK are waiting to see if the recall will be extended to Europe and how that will affect their rights to make claims for baby injury compensation if their child has sustained an injury due to the negligent … Read more
A woman, who suffered severe brain damage after neither a surgeon nor an anaesthetist were present to perform a C-Section procedure, has been awarded a settlement package of compensation for injury due to a delayed Caesarean operation amounting to 4.2 million pounds. Susanne Turner (45) from Wittersham, Kent, was born on April 28th 1967 at … Read more
An inquest into the death of a former BT Building Contract Manager has heard that the deceased made a BT engineer mesothelioma claim for compensation shortly before he died. At the inquest, Assistant Deputy Coroner Dr Peter Harrowing was told that Derek Butler (74) from Weston in Somerset – a former BT draughtsman and Building … Read more
The Minister for Welfare – Lord Freud – has revealed details of a diffuse mesothelioma cancer compensation fund which will be established to assist those diagnosed with work-related mesothelioma cancer who are unable to trace their former employers. The scheme enables victims of the asbestos-related disease, diagnosed with work-related diffuse mesothelioma cancer from 25th July … Read more
A former beauty pageant winner has been awarded over 18,000 pounds in chronic lower back injury compensation following a hearing at Edinburgh´s Court of Sessions. Fiona Dickie (24) from East Lothian, made the claim for chronic lower back injury compensation following a road traffic accident on Edinburgh’s South Clerk Street in April 2009. It was … Read more
An eleven-year-old boy is to receive 100,000 Euros in tricycle injury compensation after his claim for damages was resolved shortly before a hearing was due to commence at Dublin´s High Court. Bartosz Zakrzewski from Birr in County Offaly, Ireland, sustained traumatic injuries to his head and leg in an accident in July 2010 when, cycling … Read more
A 102 year old woman has been awarded compensation for a premature hospital discharge after she was sent home from a hospital accident and emergency department despite having sustained a broken pelvis. Lydia Eaton from Wigmore in Kent was taken to the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham in March 2007 after experiencing a fall near … Read more
A pensioner, who fell and broke her shoulder on a shopping centre travelator, has been awarded 30,000 Euros in compensation for fall on the moving walkway by a judge in Dublin. At the Circuit Civil Court in Dublin, Judge Jacqueline Linnane heard how Rosaleen Hill (79) of Terenure in Dublin had been returning to the … Read more
Three new claims for shopping centre parking lot injury at Highcross Shopping Centre in Leicester have been made following a successful claim for an injury sustained on the access bridge from the parking lot late last year and compensation for slipping and breaking an ankle being awarded to another shopper just a few weeks ago. … Read more
BT has announced that it will be withdrawing its Statute of Limitations amnesty in respect of hearing injury compensation for BT engineers with effect from 1st January 2013. Following the company´s admission in August 2010 that it exposed engineers who used the green oscillating and amplifying equipment to trace, repair and install BT telephone lines … Read more
A man who suffered permanent brain injuries after falling from scaffolding while attempting to help his brother repair the roof of his house has been awarded 750,000 Euros after the settlement of his claim for fall from scaffolding tower injury compensation was approved in court. Patrick Rayner from Mitchelstown in County Cork was helping his … Read more
A shopper, who slipped on a discarded baby wipe in Argos and damaged his shoulder when he fell, has been awarded 17,500 Euros in slip in Argos injury compensation at Dublin´s Circuit Civil Court. Declan Conroy from East Wall, Dublin, had been shopping in the Henry Street branch of Argos in May 2008 when the … Read more
A girl, who suffered oxygen deprivation and physical disabilities for the first thirty years of her life due to a surgical error shortly after she was born, has been awarded 1 million dollars in compensation for heart surgery negligence by a jury in Los Angeles. The girl, who was not named in court, was born … Read more
A 17-year-old girl has had a settlement of compensation for an allergic reaction to eyebrow wax approved in court. The unnamed teenager suffered the allergic reaction after visiting the Crop Beauty Salon in October 2011 where, after her eyebrow treatment had finished, she continued to experience a burning sensation. By the time the girl returned … Read more
A three-year-old boy, who suffered catastrophic brain injuries when his birth was delayed due to an “outdated, insensitive, and poorly maintained” ultrasound machine, has been awarded 78.5 million dollars in compensation for quadriplegic birth injury by a jury in Philadelphia. The Honourable Mark Bernstein and the jury at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas heard … Read more
Campaigners for changes to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment Bill for mesothelioma No Win No Fee claims were delighted this week at the government´s decision to exempt asbestos-related injuries from their reforms. In the bill, the government planned to remove access to conditional fee agreements for all personal injury claimants to address a perceived … Read more
A woman, who slipped and fractured her knee cap on a Carnival cruise ship, has been awarded almost €2.3m in a compensation claim for a slip injury on a cruise ship. Denise Kaba from Florida was journeying on a cruise on the Carnival Pride in August 2009, when she slipped and fell on the pool … Read more
A woman who sustained head, neck and shoulder injuries when part of the ceiling fell on her at her local bank has settled her bank accident injury compensation claim out of court for 1,500 pounds. The unnamed 47 year old woman had been standing at the counter of her local Barclays Bank when a brick … Read more
A teenage girl, who suffered an Erb’s Palsy injury due to alleged negligence at her birth, has had a Erb’s Palsy Birth Injury compensation award of £1m approved in the High Court. Sarah O’Sullivan (14), suffered a shoulder injury during her birth at hospital in 1997 which lead to her being diagnosed with right-sided Erb’s … Read more
An increasing number of slips and trips in the classroom, physical assaults on teachers and instances where schools and local authorities have failed to comply with their legal responsibilities relating to health, safety and employment, led to teachers injury compensation exceeding 25 million pounds in 2011. Exactly how much compensation for teachers injuries was paid … Read more
A fine of 48,000 pounds has been imposed for unreported work accidents in a Tesco grocery store after a health and safety investigation by Bracknell Forest Council. The council discovered three specific incidences of the company “failing to report an accident to the relevant enforcing authority” between May 2009 and March 2010 and health and … Read more
The family of a mother and child, who were both tragically killed in a road traffic accident which occurred in 2006, have been awarded more than £83,500 in a car accident death award. Both Yvonne Mahoney (24) and her daughter, Bobbi-Ann (2), were killed when an automobile driven by Yvonne’s partner John Maloney (33) was … Read more
The House of Lords recently conducted a debate on the health risks of para-Phenylensiamine in hair dye to raise awareness of the known health issues associated with the chemical, and to ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State what steps were being taken by the Government to warn consumers in the UK of its potential risks. … Read more
A student, who was rushed to hospital after collapsing mid-way through a game of high school American football, has been awarded 4.4 million dollars for traumatic brain injury compensation in an out of court settlement. Scott Eveland was just eighteen years of age when, on 14th September 2007, he collapsed by the side of the … Read more
An ex-miner, who claimed he contracted mesothelioma while working for the National Coal Board, has won his asbestos related cancer compensation claim at London´s High Court. Dennis Ball (92) from Beeston in Nottinghamshire worked for the National Coal Board at their Sutton and Moorgreen pits between 1967 and 1985. He alleged in his injury compensation … Read more
A young girl, who sustained catastrophic injuries when her parent´s car was involved in a head-on collision with a speeding driver, has had her compensation for brain damage in car crash settlement approved in court. Cerys Edwards (6) from Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands was just eleven months old when, in November 2006, a … Read more
The family of a woman who died from a heart attack after she was wrongfully discharged from hospital has won their compensation court case for death in a hospital caused by negligence claim and are to receive £278,000 Euros in compensation. The judge in court heard how Mrs Teresa O’Brien had been admitted to hospital … Read more