Legal News

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A woman who endured serious pain after her dentist failed to spot that she had an abscess has won £8,000 in compensation. Shelley Farrell, 49, was experiencing severe toothache and went to her dentist believing that she had an abscess. However, the...
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A pensioner from Ore in East Sussex has been awarded thousands of pounds in compensation for injuries she suffered when she tripped on a badly maintained pavement outside her house. Irene Saville, now 73, fell over a hole in the pavement as she was pushing...
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A motor scooter rider who was left with life-changing injuries after being hit by a motorist has won a compensation settlement worth £5.5 million. David Ireland, now 21, was riding down a lane near his home when the accident happened in 2006. A car...
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Over a third of all major workplace injuries that are reported each year are caused by a slip or trip and these cost employers over £512 million a year in lost production and other costs. A worker who slipped on a hazardous step at an industrial...
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A pensioner who slipped on a wet floor at a Tesco store in Worcester has received a four-figure sum in compensation for an injury to his foot. Ronald Fryer, 80, was taken to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital where X-rays showed that that he had fractured a...
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A former factory worker whose hearing was damaged by excessive noise at his place of work has won £5,000 in damages. Mr Davidson worked for Mather & Platt Limited, which manufactured pumps, fire sprinkler systems and electric motors, for four...
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A former miner who was diagnosed with an asbestos-related cancer has been awarded damages of more than £70,000 by the High Court in a case which sheds light on the way in which compensation settlements in such cases should be calculated. Dennis...
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A park warden who slipped on ice while trying to put up a sign warning users of the park of the danger posed by those very same slippery conditions has won compensation for his injuries. The warden had been sent to put up the signs by Leicester County...
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A grandfather who was knocked off his bicycle by a motorist who then drove away has won £11,000 in damages. The accident happened when Jack Dixon, 59, was cycling home from Chelmsford railway station. He had left the cycle lane to negotiate a junction...
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A 12-year-old girl who suffered a devastating brain injury shortly after her birth is to receive a settlement worth £7.3 million from the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust. Danielle Marshall was born prematurely at 31 weeks in 1999. She was...
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New recruits to the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) who were injured in a CS gas training exercise have secured compensation totalling approximately £18,000. The injured officers were among a number of new recruits taking part in a training exercise...
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A man who choked on a piece of rubber in a packet of crisps he was eating has agreed a settlement of £3,500 in compensation from the manufacturer. Peter Collins, 53, was eating a packet of Walkers crisps when he choked on a piece of rubber mould,...
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A woman who was left brain damaged after being hit by an out-of-control truck has been awarded a substantial sum in compensation. Devbai Patel, 60, was walking home after going shopping when she was caught up in the consequences of a devastating road...
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A 70-year-old woman who suffered broken bones in a fall in a café has won £75,000 in damages. The accident happened when the woman, who did not want to be named, visited the Lanterns café in Swindon town centre. She tripped on a mat as...
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Two pilots have each won damages after the microlight they were flying fell apart in mid-air. Jim Martin, 54, was flying the microlight with a passenger, Jon Kerr, when its tail snapped off. The plane was sent spinning through the air and fell 1,000 feet to...
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A former steelworker from Scunthorpe whose wife died from an asbestos-related disease has won a substantial amount in compensation. The 76-year-old man worked at a steelworks for six years in the 1970s. He was regularly exposed to asbestos in the course of...
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A young girl who was left with serious disabilities after negligence by hospital staff during her birth has had a compensation settlement worth millions of pounds approved by the High Court. Hannah Louise Gudd, now aged 10, was starved of oxygen during her...
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Around 70 workers in the Oldham area have received a total of more than £270,000 in compensation, mostly for hearing loss as a result of exposure to excessive noise in the workplace. One claimant was Eric Bennett, 70, who had worked for an engineering...
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A supermarket worker who slipped on a broken egg has won £27,000 in compensation for the injury she sustained. Irene Heslop had worked as a bakery assistant for ASDA for seven years. She was walking through the warehouse when she slipped on the broken...
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A man whose new bicycle collapsed beneath him, causing him to be thrown to the ground and seriously injure his face, has won £57,500 in an out-of-court settlement. The 30-year-old painter and decorator from Middlesex was given the bicycle by his...
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A cyclist who was knocked off his bicycle by a hit-and-run driver has been awarded £4 million in compensation. Patrice Gougam, a professional tennis coach, was cycling along the A100 in London in November 2009 when he was struck by a Land Rover. The...
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A skip worker whose hand was crushed in an accident at work in 2009 has won £175,000 in damages. Heath Riley, who was 42 when the accident occurred, was delivering a skip for Enviro Skips Ltd. of Burnley. The skips were not stacked properly and the...
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A woman whose husband died from an asbestos-related disease has won a six-figure sum in damages. John Bromley worked as a building inspector and surveyor for the local council in Stafford for 37 years. In the 1970s, part of his job was to check that...
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A young boy who fell off a climbing frame onto a concrete surface in 2009 has won £7,500 in compensation from Suffolk County Council. Jamie Griffin, now 10, was using the climbing frame in the playground at Burton End Primary School in Haverhill when...
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A plater who suffered extensive damage to his hands as a result of continued use of vibrating tools has won damages of £12,000, the second time his employer has compensated him for work-related injury. The 54-year-old man had worked with vibrating...
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A young girl who suffered brain damage at birth has been awarded £5.6 million in compensation in a High Court settlement. The girl, now 11 years old, was starved of oxygen at birth. Her mother had a placental abruption, which is where the placenta has...
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A journalist whose skin was left scarred after she underwent a cosmetic procedure for a newspaper feature she was writing has won damages from a spa in London. Charlotte Cripps, an arts writer for the Independent, underwent Intense Pulsed Light treatment,...
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A grandmother who fractured her hip when she tripped on a Christmas tree decoration in Santa’s grotto in Selfridges in 2009 has won her claim for compensation after the Court of Appeal ruled that Father Christmas and his assistant should have made sure...
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A rider who was injured after being thrown from her horse has won compensation of £37,000. The accident happened in 2007 when Ceri Tonkinson was riding in Cosmeston Country Park, near Penarth in Wales. The horse she was riding had only recently been...
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A retired plumber who was diagnosed with mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos at work has won £115,000 in damages. The man had worked almost exclusively for the same building firm between 1950 and the early 1970s. He was exposed to asbestos...
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After years of litigation, a young woman who suffered life-changing injuries when she was hit by a car as a child has been awarded a compensation settlement worth more than £9 million. Leigh Ann Blinkhorn, now 23, was seven years old when the accident...
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A man who was almost blinded after an accident at work has won an undisclosed amount in damages. Trevor Watson, 42, was working as a drainage engineer. He was instructed to take his truck to a hydraulic specialist because of a blockage in its jetting...
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An engineer who was seriously injured when he fell through a roof has won more than £164,000 in damages. The 66-year-old man worked for electronics and electrical engineering company Siemens. He was installing CCTV cameras at Liverpool Lime Street...
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A woman who lost a filling when she bit into an oven chip has won compensation from the manufacturer of the product. Susan Stapylton, 60, was eating Aunt Bessie’s oven chips. She bit into something solid and dislodged a filling in one of her wisdom...
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A golfer who was hit in the face by a stray golf ball has received compensation for her injuries. Rachel Davis was walking back to the car park from the ninth hole at Branston Golf and Country Club in Staffordshire when the accident happened. The ball hit...
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A Gulf War veteran who suffered life-changing injuries when he hit a pothole and was thrown from his motorcycle has won an undisclosed amount in compensation from the council responsible for the upkeep of the road. The accident happened in February 2009,...
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A retired man who has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease several decades after exposure has received more than £141,000 in compensation. For more than 20 years, the man worked as a labourer at a paper mill, where he operated a paper...
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A shopper who was injured when he tried to lift a faulty box containing flat-pack furniture has won £11,000 in damages. The man was shopping at a major supermarket when the accident happened. He wished to buy the furniture and was attempting to remove...
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A man who suffered damage to his hearing as a result of exposure to excessive noise in the workplace has won compensation from his employer. William Shipman, from West Yorkshire, had worked in a variety of jobs for a packaging company. During his...
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A woman who missed out on her holiday after she fell down a set of temporary stairs at Birmingham International Airport has won £28,000 in compensation from Thomson Airways. Sheila Gilling, 69, was boarding a flight to Lanzarote when the accident...
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A former professional jockey who was injured while working on an equestrian farm has won £22,000 in compensation. Jeffery Kear was working as an equestrian facilities manager at Stockland Lovell, near Bridgwater in Somerset. He had only been employed...
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A man who suffered a serious spinal injury as a result of a mistaken hospital diagnosis in 2000 has won an undisclosed amount in compensation. Liam Careless, now 23, was 12 years old when he was taken to Tameside Hospital complaining of paralysis in his...
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A man who was run over by musician Pete Doherty’s Daimler in 2009 has won an undisclosed amount in compensation at the High Court. Chris Corder, 42, was delivering church newsletters near Hadleigh in Suffolk when the accident happened. He was struck...
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The widow of a man who died of an asbestos-related disease has won over £250,000 in compensation. William Wolff had worked as a joiner for 50 years before he retired in 2005, three months before his 65th birthday. He and his wife had planned to tour...
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An amateur footballer who was seriously injured while playing on a poorly maintained pitch was recently awarded £22,700 in compensation at Dewsbury County Court. Paul Zoledziejewski, a 33-year-old mechanic, was playing for his club on a pitch in Shelf...
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A grandmother has won substantial compensation for injuries she sustained when she slipped on a spillage at an ASDA superstore. Patricia Hill, 73, was shopping at the Rivergate store in Peterborough when she slipped on what was thought to be vegetable...
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Every employer must provide employees with suitable personal protective equipment to guard against exposure to health and safety hazards while they are at work. To this end, employers should carry out risk assessments to identify any foreseeable risks faced...
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The court has approved a compensation settlement of £900,000 for a boy whose leg had to be amputated shortly after he was born. Leo Ison, now six, was just three weeks old when doctors at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester told his parents that he would...
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The construction industry is one of the most dangerous in which to earn a living. A construction worker who was seriously injured in a fall from height at work has secured a compensation package worth millions of pounds. The 38-year-old man was working for...
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A man who was struck by a van while walking through a car park has won £5,500 in damages. The man was returning to his car when he saw a van reversing, so he altered his route so that he passed in front of the vehicle. The van driver quickly changed...
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A woman who was left permanently disabled after a routine hip operation went wrong has won over £100,000 in damages. Margaret Peabody, 51, was suffering from painful osteoarthritis and, in 2008, underwent an operation at the St Cross Hospital in Rugby...
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A woman who fell from a boat during a pleasure cruise has been awarded compensation for the injuries she suffered as a result. The woman was at a Christmas party, with colleagues from work, when the accident happened. She and a friend had been dancing and...
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A woman whose hearing was damaged as a result of exposure to excessive levels of noise at work has won just over £1,200 in compensation from one of her former employers. This comes on top of an earlier settlement of £2,700 from a different...
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The family of a former shipyard worker who was exposed to asbestos in more than one job has won compensation from three of his former employers. William Galloway began working as a lagger when he was 16 years old, and was exposed to asbestos during that...
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A textile factory employee who suffered a serious wrist injury when he slipped at work has won £40,000 in an out-of-court settlement. The man, who is in his 60s, slipped on fluid that had leaked from a textile printing machine. He fell backwards and...
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A retired roofer has won compensation for the injuries he suffered when a gas canister ignited, setting fire to him and forcing him to jump from a 12-foot roof. Victor Barrell, 65, was using a roofing torch, to which the gas canister was attached, to repair...
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A woman who is disabled as a result of injuries she sustained when she was knocked down by a taxi when she was 14 years old has been awarded £3 million in compensation. Vicki Hart, now 22, was hit by the taxi while crossing the road in Guisborough,...
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A school worker who fell from a toilet she was standing on in order to open a window has been awarded £15,900 in damages . Marie Wallace, 64, was a clerical assistant at Kirkriggs School in Glasgow. The accident happened when she attempted to open...
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A man who tripped on a raised paving stone in the pedestrian area of a high street has won £5,000 in compensation for his injuries. The area was paved with small granite blocks, one of which was standing proud of the others. The man tripped over it...
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A further case involving injury to a worker as a result of the use of a chemical cleaning product, without adequate health and safety measures having been taken, has seen a caretaker from Walsall receive a £3,000 compensation settlement from his...
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A young girl who was left severely brain damaged after complications during her birth has been awarded a seven-figure sum in compensation. Ella Franklin, now 11, was starved of oxygen when problems arose during her mother’s labour. As a result, she is...
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A compensation settlement of £212,500 has been awarded to the widow of a former joiner who died as a result of being exposed to asbestos at work. The man had worked as a joiner for a building firm from 1958 to 1968. He and his wife later moved to...
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Slipping or tripping is the single most common cause of major injury in UK workplaces. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reports that more than 10,000 workers suffered serious injury as a result of a slip or trip in the year 2009/2010. This figure...
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A woman who was injured when the car being driven by her husband was involved in an accident has won £34,000 in compensation from his insurers. The 78-year-old woman was being driven home from her son-in-law’s 50th birthday party by her husband....
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A former weaver who was exposed to excessive levels of noise at work has been awarded compensation after suffering damage to his hearing. Mr McKinley had been employed as a weaver at a textiles firm in Milnrow, Lancashire, from 1969 to 1970, and had also...
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A woman from Southend who fell down an open manhole while holidaying in Turkey has won a six-figure sum in compensation for her injuries. Michelle Dragon, 49, was staying with friends at the Club Sarba Hotel in Marmaris, Turkey, when the accident happened....
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A woman who suffered life-changing injuries after doctors were slow to diagnose her childhood meningitis has been awarded a compensation settlement worth £4.3 million. Natalie Tuthill, now 21, was admitted to Hull Royal Infirmary with a serious...
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A mother has won a seven-figure sum in compensation after she was injured in a road accident that left her with life-changing injuries. The 48-year-old woman had driven out to get some milk when her car was hit head-on by the vehicle of a man who had...
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A shopper who tripped over a pothole in the pavement has won £3,100 in compensation. Terence Wakefield, 78, was walking through a local market in June last year when he tripped over the pothole. He reached out with his hands to try to break his fall...
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A former BBC Radio Leeds DJ has won compensation for injuries he sustained during a charity stunt. Alex Belfield, 31, was doing a live broadcast in support of Children in Need when he was unexpectedly tackled by two Bradford Bulls rugby league players. He...
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A London Underground cleaner who developed a severe skin condition after being exposed to a cleaning chemical has received £14,900 in compensation. The man had worked as a cleaner for more than 20 years. In June 2007, when he was responsible for...
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A joiner who is now terminally ill after being exposed to asbestos at work has won compensation of more than £350,000 from his former employer. Stephen Adkin, 54, worked for Nova Retail Display Ltd. between 1996 and 2010. During the late 1990s he was...
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A man who tripped and suffered a severe knee injury at work has won £40,000 in damages. The unnamed man suffered the accident while working for a motor manufacturer. He was walking across an area of the factory floor which had been covered with a...
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A cyclist who was knocked down by a car that failed to give way has been awarded compensation for his injuries by Market Harborough Magistrates’ Court. The driver of the car, Robin Perry, told the Court that he was making a turn and failed to see the...
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A boy from Weston-super-Mare has won £28,750 in compensation after doctors failed to diagnose acute appendicitis when he attended Bristol Children’s Hospital in 2005. Thomas Roberts, who was aged 11 at the time, was taken to the hospital by his...
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A shopper who was injured at an outdoor market has secured £30,000 in compensation. The unnamed woman was passing a stall in the market when the accident happened. A large metal pole fell from the stall and hit her on the shoulder. Her shoulder was...
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A refuse collector whose hearing has been impaired as a result of many years spent working alongside noisy bin lorries and recycling equipment has won compensation for the damage. Graham Wild, 50, worked for Rochdale Council as a bin man for thirty years....
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A man who slipped on a grape at a supermarket in Peterborough has been awarded £10,500 in damages. Thomas Wardle brought a claim against Asda after he slipped and injured himself in January 2008. The exact nature of his injury is not known but it is...
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The family of a woman who died from an asbestos-related disease has received £150,000 in compensation. Christina Bolas trained as a nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and worked there until 1968, and again between 1971 and 1986. She...
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A cyclist who was hit by a lorry after he collided with barriers around electrical works has won a settlement worth millions of pounds in compensation for the life-changing injuries he suffered. Alexander Kotula, 27, fell into works barriers on a busy...
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A woman who broke her neck during a horse riding lesson has won £60,000 in compensation. Maxine Wright and her husband had been taking riding lessons in preparation for a horse trekking holiday in Spain. The accident happened during a lesson when Mrs...
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A machine operator who strained his groin while lifting a box in the factory where he worked has won £20,000 in compensation. Barry Lester, 64, was injured while working at the Ford factory in Dagenham. He was trying to lift a box from the top of a...
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We all read media stories about conkers being banned in school playgrounds, health and safety being taken too far, and hanging baskets being removed, all of which help create a false impression of the personal injury system. This short...
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A woman who endured severe pain for many years after a bungled operation to remove painful corns has won £100,000 in compensation. The unnamed woman, known only as Mrs P, had the foot operation in 1983, when she was 32 years old. She continued to...
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A woman who sought compensation after slipping and falling on an ill-fitting church doormat has reached an undisclosed settlement. The accident happened in 2007, when Margaret Graham, 78, was preparing flower arrangements for a Sunday service at the St...
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A West Yorkshire cyclist who was injured when his bicycle hit a pothole has been awarded compensation of £2,000. Peter Lodge, 52, was cycling near his home when the front wheel of his bicycle became stuck in a gap that had formed around a water valve...
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A woman who tripped over an uneven road surface and fractured her hip has won compensation of £9,500. The woman was walking to the shops when the accident happened. Her foot became caught in a sunken drainage grate and she fell to the ground. She...
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The family of a man who died of mesothelioma has been awarded £250,000 in damages from the company where he used to work. The unnamed man had carried out research on asbestos for a chemical company. This necessitated cutting up samples of the...
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Latex allergies have become increasingly common amongst people who have to wear gloves at work for health and safety reasons. The allergy is caused by the body becoming hypersensitive to proteins naturally present in latex and over-reacting to their...
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A maintenance operative who was injured after falling from steps erected out of scaffolding has won £44,000 in compensation. The unnamed man, 45, was carrying equipment down the steps when he lost his balance. One of the steps had not been properly...
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A woman has been awarded a compensation settlement worth £4.25 million for injuries she sustained in a road accident when she was a child. Rhiannon Millett, then six years old, was a passenger in a car which was hit head-on by a Land Rover. Her...
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A pensioner from West Bromwich has won £25,000 in damages after she was injured when a bus driver pulled away as she was getting off at her stop. Doreen Tyler, 82, was stepping off the bus when it started moving again. Realising that she was still on...
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The former employer of a ceiling fixer who suffered an acute head injury in a workplace fall has lost its appeal against the level of damages awarded by the lower court. Stephen Dalling, 31, was working for R J Heale & Co Ltd. in a disused factory,...
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A girl has won a settlement of £575,000 after complications during her birth left her with a disabled arm. When Zahra Salim-Jaffer, now 16, was born, the nerves supplying blood to her shoulder and arm were damaged due to shoulder dystocia, a...
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Eight Jobcentre employees have won a total of £12,600 in compensation after being exposed to toxic fumes at work. The workers were exposed to a highly toxic chemical called Xylene. Contractors working on a footpath outside the Jobcentre had spilled a...
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The family of a woman who died of mesothelioma has received £150,000 in damages. Christina Bolas, who was 64 when she died, worked as an intensive care nurse in a Birmingham hospital. She was exposed to asbestos while using an underground corridor in...
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A musician who was hit by a car while crossing a road in London has been awarded compensation of more than £1.1 million. Tavenor Douglas, 41, had been out celebrating his birthday on the day the accident happened. He was using a pedestrian crossing...
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A foundry worker who developed respiratory illness as a result of inhaling silica particles has won £35,000 in damages. The unnamed man worked in a foundry which generated large quantities of dust. There was an extraction system, but it frequently...
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Following a hearing in the High Court, the judge is to rule on who was responsible for the ‘Dreamspace’ artwork accident, which left two people dead and over two dozen injured. The accident happened in July 2006, when the Dreamspace V artwork,...
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Workplace accidents involving falls from height are regrettably frequent. In 2008/09 there were 35 fatalities, 4,654 major injuries, and a further 7,065 injuries where the injured person had to take three or more days off work due to a fall from height. In...
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A woman who has been left unable to have children after hospital staff failed to diagnose her life-threatening condition has won £160,000 in compensation. Joanne Connolly first attended hospital in May 2002, due to concerns regarding her pregnancy....

What The Recent Snow Told Us - "Times OnLine"

I found this both an interesting and a well balanced article, by Janice Turner of The Times, on the snow earlier in the year and the health & safety issues that arose, and a counter to the many compensation culture stories in other papers. 

In light of the current weather covering much of the country it is worth revisiting.  I hope that you enjoy the read.

Andrew Baker