Girl awarded £14m compensation after car crash left her paralysed – The Guardian

Posted June 27th, 2013 in accidents, compensation, news, personal injuries by sally

“A teenager, left paralysed from the neck down following a car crash, has been awarded £14m – one of the largest compensation payments made to a minor.”

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The Guardian, 26th June 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Stonemason fined over Towcester boy’s fireplace death – BBC News

Posted June 27th, 2013 in accidents, fines, health & safety, negligence, news by sally

“A stonemason who fitted a fireplace at a house in Northamptonshire that toppled over and killed a four-year-old boy has been fined £7,500.”

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BBC News, 26th June 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Leadership & culture, principles & professionalism, simplicity & safety – lessons from the Nimrod Review – Speech by The Hon. Sir Charles Haddon-Cave

Posted June 24th, 2013 in accidents, aircraft, armed forces, health & safety, news by sally

Leadership & culture, principles & professionalism, simplicity & safety – lessons from the Nimrod Review (PDF)

Speech by The Hon. Sir Charles Haddon-Cave

“Piper 25” Oil & Gas UK Conference, 19th June 2013

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

£400,000 for teacher hurt in filing cabinet – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 2nd, 2013 in accidents, compensation, news, personal injuries, teachers by sally

“The payout was the largest given to teachers last year. It was secured by the Nation Union of Teachers after the employee, from the South West, was left with chronic pain and forced to quit his job.”

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Daily Telegraph, 29th March 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Rise in teachers’ injury payouts – The Guardian

Posted April 2nd, 2013 in accidents, assault, compensation, news, personal injuries, teachers by sally

“Teachers won record amounts of compensation last year after suffering accidents, injuries or assaults at school, figures show.”

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The Guardian, 29th March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Swift v Secretary of State for Justice – WLR Daily

Posted March 26th, 2013 in accidents, appeals, cohabitation, damages, families, human rights, law reports by sally

Swift v Secretary of State for Justice [2013] EWCA Civ 193; [2013] WLR (D) 118

“The exclusion of a person, cohabiting for less than two years with another who had subsequently died, from the classes of family members entitled to claim damages for loss of dependency under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, as amended, was a proportionate means of pursuing the legitimate legislative aim of confining the right to recovery to those who had relationships of some degree of permanence and dependence. Accordingly, section 1(3)(b) of the 1976 Act, as substituted by section 3(1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1982, was not incompatible with article 14, in conjunction with article 8, of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and the choice made by the legislature was not manifestly without foundation and was one Parliament was entitled to make. And even if the section amounted to an interference with the right to respect for family life in breach of article 8.1, the interference was justified under article 8.2.”

WLR Daily, 18th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Damages for death and human rights – UK Human Rights Blog

“Swift v. Secretary of State for Justice, Court of Appeal, 18 February 2013. Ms Swift lost her live-in partner in an accident at work caused by negligence. She was pregnant with her partner’s child, but had only been living with him for 6 months. Had she been with him for 2 years, she could have claimed damages for his death under section 1(3) of the Fatal Accidents Act – set out at [1] of the CA judgment. She would then have been a ‘dependant’ as defined under the FAA. So she argued that her rights under Articles 8 (family) and 14 (discrimination) of the ECHR were not properly respected by the law governing damages for the death of a relative – there was no justification for this stark cut-off – 1 year 11 months no claim, 2 years a claim. The judge refused to grant a declaration of incompatibility between the ECHR and the Fatal Accidents Act, and the Court of Appeal has just upheld his decision.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 18th March 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

MPs launch whiplash enquiry as sparks fly between insurers and claimant lawyers – Litigation Futures

Posted March 7th, 2013 in accidents, inquiries, insurance, news, select committees by sally

“MPs on the transport select committee are launching an inquiry into whiplash claims, chairman Louise Ellman revealed yesterday.”

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Litigation Futures, 6th March 2013

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

JR reaction: “a dark day” for accident victims, says APIL – Litigation Futures

Posted March 4th, 2013 in accidents, fees, judicial review, legal representation, news, road safety, victims by sally

“The High Court’s rejection of the challenge to the RTA portal fee cut represents ‘a dark day’ for accident victims, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has claimed.”

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Litigation Futures, 4th March 2013

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Mainetti UK ordered to pay £81,600 over conveyor worker’s injuries – BBC News

Posted January 17th, 2013 in accidents, costs, fines, health & safety, news by sally

“A firm has been ordered to pay £81,600 after a worker was injured when her hair and scarf became tangled in machinery.”

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BBC News, 17th January 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Manslaughter charges dropped over firework display near M5 pileup – The Guardian

Posted January 16th, 2013 in accidents, health & safety, homicide, news, prosecutions, road safety by sally

“Manslaughter charges have been dropped against a man who organised a fireworks display next to the site of a motorway pileup that killed seven people.”

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The Guardian, 15th January 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Elderly driving laws must be changed, says coroner, after 89-year-old dies on M40 – Daily Telegraph

Posted December 10th, 2012 in accidents, driving licences, elderly, inquests, news by sally

“A coroner has condemned driving licence laws for older drivers as ‘puny’ after an 89-year-old died following a head-on-crash as she drove the wrong way down the M40 motorway for more than ten miles.”

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Daily Telegraph, 7th December 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

16-year-old schoolboy’s hockey ball death ruled ‘tragic accident’ – The Independent

Posted November 30th, 2012 in accidents, inquests, news, school children by tracey

“The death of a 16-year-old Dorset schoolboy after being hit by a hockey ball thrown by another pupil was a tragic accident, an inquest jury has found.”

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The Independent, 29th November 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Bar Council Calls on Government to Protect Injured Workers – The Bar Council

Posted November 15th, 2012 in accidents, barristers, bills, news, personal injuries by sally

“The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, today [14 November] joins the Personal Injuries Bar Association (PIBA) to call on Peers to hold the Government to account on plans to restrict severely access to justice for injured workers, ahead of the House of Lords’ Second Reading of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill.”

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The Bar Council, 14th November 2012

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Employer’s liability for accidents resulting from excessive working hours – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted October 18th, 2012 in accidents, employment, news, working time by sally

“British workers put in some of the longest hours in Europe, and the burden falls particularly heavily on shift workers. You have often seen the signs ‘Tiredness Kills’ along motorways. In many instances this is literally true and over-tired drivers coming home from long shifts pose a real hazard to themselves and other road users.”

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Hardwicke Chambers, 10th October 2012

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Jury rules that falling masonry death at restaurant was accidental – The Independent

Posted October 9th, 2012 in accidents, health & safety, inquests, news by sally

“The death of a man killed by a piece of falling masonry as he sat at a restaurant was an accident, an inquest jury has ruled.”

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The Independent, 9th October 2012

Source: www.independent.co.uk

When human rights hit the private law of damages for death – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted July 25th, 2012 in accidents, compensation, damages, economic loss, families, human rights, news by tracey

“Swift v. Secretary of State for Justice [2012] EWHC 2000 (QB) Eady J, read judgment. This decision involves the intersection of Articles 8 (family) and 14 (discrimination) of the ECHR with the law governing who can recover damages for the death of a relative. This law is the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (for the text see [10] of the judgment – embarrassingly, the one freely available on the internet is out of date). One does not to think for very long before realising that the FAA is underpinned by an idea that one ought to respect the rights of the family, and to pay the family when one has negligently caused the death of a family member. But like all such laws, there is the problem of where to stop – where does the family stop for these purposes?”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 24th July 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Advice of scoutmaster was to blame for death of teen on Ten Tors challenge, judge rules – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 29th, 2012 in accidents, negligence, news, personal injuries, school children by tracey

“The advice of a well meaning but ill-advised scoutmaster was to blame for the death of a 14 year old girl training for the Ten Tors Expedition, a judge has ruled.”

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Daily Telegraph, 29th June 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Court ruling could force motor insurance premiums to rise by 25pc – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 18th, 2012 in accidents, insurance, news, repairs, road traffic by sally

“Customers could face yet more hikes in their car insurance after a court ruling that experts fear could lead to minor repairs costing 25pc more.”

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Daily Telegraph, 15th June 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Mother found negligent for child’s injuries after using wrong car seat – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 27th, 2012 in accidents, damages, negligence, news, personal injuries, road safety by tracey

“A mother who put her three-year-old daughter in a car booster seat has been found partly responsible for her crippling car crash injuries by the High Court because it was the wrong seat for her age.”

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Daily Telegraph, 26th April 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk