Personal Injury

Rock climbing wall injury – It’s not the going up that’s the problem it’s the coming down

Posted by Mark Gore on 20th March 2012

In the case of Pinchbeck –v- Craggy Island Ltd (2012) the Court found that a company that operated an indoor rock climbing centre were liable for injury sustained by a person who jumped down from a wall and injured her ankle.

The Claimant had argued that clear instructions had not been given to her not to jump down from the rock climbing wall. The Defendant argued that the Claimant had been given such instruction but ignored it. They also argued that the Claimant had anyway voluntarily assumed the risk that jumping down from the rock climbing wall could foreseeably cause an injury (the legal maxim of volenti non fit injuria).

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Bucking broncos-Horseriding injury-The preciseness of risk and the Animals Act

Posted by Mark Gore on 13th March 2012

The recent Court of Appeal decision in the horseriding injury case of Goldsmith –v- Patchcott (2012) EWCA Civ 183 has clarified the interpretation of the statutory defence afforded to owners of animals classed as dangerous. The case involved a horseriding injury caused by a horse that bucked violently. Section 5(2) of the Animals Act 1971 states there will be no liability for any damage suffered by a person who voluntarily accepted the risk of such damage.

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Assaulted at work by a co-worker?  When can you claim compensation from your employer?

Posted by Jeremy Horton on 31st January 2012

This was the question the Court of Appeal had to consider very recently in two separate cases. Often an employer is legally responsible for unlawful acts carried out by its employees even when those acts are criminal and violent. In these cases an employer will be liable to pay compensation for personal injuries resulting from the assault. However, this depends on whether the action was “in the course of their employee’s employment”. This is not always easy to assess.

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The speeding motorcyclist and the slowly emerging van - who was to blame?

Posted by Jeremy Horton on 24th January 2012

A recent High Court decision had to consider where the fault lay between a speeding motorcyclist and a slowly emerging van. In the resulting road traffic accident the motorcyclist suffered head injuries and other serious multiple injuries for which he sought compensation.

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Even Santa can’t ignore “elf and safety” – compensation for tripping in Santa’s grotto

Posted by Jeremy Horton on 19th December 2011

For one grandmother what should have been an exciting family visit to Santa’s grotto with her grandchildren turned into a nightmare. 73 year old Mrs Dufosse from Southampton had gone with five other family members, including her grandchildren, to visit Santa’s grotto at Selfridge’s in Oxford Street London.

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The problem of Chronic Pain

Posted by Mark Gore on 16th November 2011

If you have suffered a “soft tissue injury” most experienced doctors will tell you that all tissues in the human body usually complete their healing processes after up to 6 months.

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Brain Injury and increased risk of Post Traumatic Epilepsy

Posted by Mark Gore on 8th November 2011

Post Traumatic Epilepsy (PTE) is a recognised problem following a brain injury and can develop years after the original injury occurred.

Approximately 80% of PTE occur within 2 years of the injury and the risk decreases with time. It has traditionally been thought that this reaches the normal value for population at 5 years after the head injury. However, research carried out by a team in Denmark found that people who suffer an head injury are at risk of developing epilepsy for over ten years following the incident. They also found the chance of epilepsy more than doubled for a person after mild brain injury or skull fracture and were seven times more likely in patients with serious brain injury.

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