Pages On: Wrongful & Accidental Death

Death and Fatal Accident Compensation

Posted in: Personal Injury, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Accidental deaths are mostly sudden and totally devastate a family with no warning. This leaves those close to the deceased with a crushing sense of sadness, confusion, anger, and worry. Not only do the bereaved have to suffer the emotional distress of the Fatal Accident, but also the financial strain such a loss can take. All of this, whilst those responsible hope to get off scot-free. Claim compensation for the accidental death of a loved one in Bristol. We give your family the justice the deceased deserves, whilst compensating you…

Leeds couple win compensation following honeymoon road traffic accident

Posted: 22 April 2016

Posted in: Accidents and Sickness Abroad, Bus Accidents, Hand Injuries, Leg Injuries, Road Traffic Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A couple from Leeds have been awarded compensation following a head-on collision whilst on tour in Italy. The couple, Angela and Simon Howland, were on the holiday of a lifetime, cruising the Mediterranean when the collision occurred. Their tour bus was travelling between Sorrento and Pompeii and was travelling through a tunnel when it was forced to swerve to avoid a head on collision with another vehicle. The bus, which was transporting tourists from the cruise, then crashed into the tunnel wall, causing substantial personal injury to the driver and many…

Faulty tumble dryer causes two deaths

Posted: 7 March 2016

Posted in: Personal Injury, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Manufacturer, Whirlpool UK Appliances Ltd, have been ordered to supply information regarding any known problems with a tumble dryer which ignited in a flat in Llanrwst killing two people. 39-year-old Doug McTavish and 19-year-old Bernard Hender lost their lives when the dryer caught fire in the early hours of the morning of 1 October 2014.  Attending a pre-inquest review in Ruthin on Monday was Garry Lloyd Jones who was the sole survivor of the fire. Mr Lloyd Jones, a funeral director from the Conwy Valley, was Mr Hender’s partner and…

Woman killed in wrong-side-of-the-road accident

Posted: 1 March 2016

Posted in: Car Accidents, Road Traffic Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Cumbrian woman, Kathleen Bellas, 54, from Shap was killed outright on 12 January by a foreign driver driving on the wrong side of the road. Carlisle Crown Court heard how Ms Bellas’ Ford Focus collided with a lorry in an early morning road crash, and 52-year-old Adam Rybicki admits that he was in the wrong. The collision took place on the A6. Mr Rybicki, who was uninjured by the collision, will face sentencing in March and has been remanded on bail on the condition that he stays at a Luton…

Hospital trust fined over patient deaths

Posted: 20 December 2015

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Public Place Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

An NHS trust has been fined after it was discovered that basic errors caused the deaths of four patients. The trust that previously ran Stafford Hospital, Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, admitted four charges relating to the deaths of elderly people between 2005 and 2014.  Where the trust was originally fined £500,000 for the “blunders”, the Department of Health has agreed to cover the fine, and additional £35,000 in costs, seeing as the trust is now defunct and has no funds. Injected with penicillin despite allergy warnings The case was…

Maternity staff errors cause baby death

Posted: 16 November 2015

Posted in: Birth Injury, Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A hospital trust has admitted to errors that resulted in the death of a newborn baby earlier this year. The baby girl died only two days after being born, with an investigation finding that she would have survived had her mother been given a caesarean section sooner. Delilah Hubbard died on 9 March in Leicester Royal Infirmary’s neonatal unit. The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust admitted to a number of failings that led to the death of the baby. The mother, 25-year-old Clara Bassford, had been classed as a…

Grieving husband wins six-figure payout

Posted: 1 June 2015

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A man has been awarded a six-figure payout after his wife died from a blocked artery following a routine operation. 58-year-old Nicola Tweedy, from Pulham Market, was admitted to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for routine surgery for varicose veins in March 2014. However, she died shortly after the operation from a blocked artery. A spokesperson from the hospital wrote in a letter to Mrs Tweedy’s grieving husband, Chris, that they could have provided her with better treatment. Anna Dugdale, the hospital’s chief executive, offered Mr Tweedy her “sincerest apologies”…

4 years for dangerous driver who killed schoolgirl and injured several others

Posted: 2 May 2015

Posted in: Car Accidents, Leg Injuries, Pedestrian Injuries, Road Traffic Accidents, School Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Robert Blackwell, 19, from Hayway Lane, Bampton, Oxfordshire, has been given a 4-year jail sentence after admitting dangerous driving resulting in the death of schoolgirl, Liberty Baker, 14, on 30 June. Blackwell’s car mounted the pavement, killing Liberty and injuring 2 of her friends as they walked to school in Witney, Oxfordshire.  Blackwell admitted causing death by dangerous driving and inflicting serious injury by dangerous driving, and admitted to having smoked cannabis on the day before taking to the road. The incident took place in Curbridge Road and also involved Paul Cracknell…

Former partner suing NHS trust for £1million

Posted: 26 March 2015

Posted in: Birth Injury, Head and Brain Injuries, Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

The former partner of a woman who fell into a coma after giving birth to a son, who later died, is suing the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust for £1million. 46-year-old Christian Cooper remains in a ‘minimally responsive state’ and lives in a nursing home after suffering the heart attack at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in July 2005.  Her former partner, Julian Harrington, claims that hospital staff failed to explain the possible risks involved in a conventional delivery. Ms Cooper had given birth to her two previous children by Caesarean,…

Waterpark owners fined following death

Posted: 15 March 2015

Posted in: Public Place Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

The company that runs a water park in Gloucestershire, where a teenager drowned in 2010, has been ordered to pay £240,000 in costs and fines. 15-year-old Kajil Devi, from London, died after slipping and falling into the water at Cotswold Country Park and Beach in 2010. The company in charge of the water park, WM Active, admitted to failing to ensure the health and safety of the public – a charge enforced by Cotswold District Council. WM Active was forced to pay £150,000 in costs and an additional £90,000 in…

Family seek answers following spleen rupture death

Posted: 25 January 2015

Posted in: Bicycle Accidents, Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

The family of a man who died of an undiagnosed ruptured spleen has described the fact that nobody has been held accountable for their son’s death as “shameful”. John Moore-Robinson, aged 20, died after being sent home from Stafford Hospital with a ruptured spleen that doctors had failed to recognise. His parents, Frank and Janet Robinson, feel that someone should be held accountable. Mr Moore-Robinson died in his Leicestershire home in 2006. He had been admitted to hospital following a bike accident on Cannock Chase, but was sent home diagnosed…

Hospital review following teenager’s death

Posted: 8 December 2014

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A review has been opened into the care received by a teenager at Redhill’s East Surrey Hospital after she died in August. 19-year-old Georgina Weaver was admitted to the hospital with complaints of severe headaches and blurred vision. Georgina’s parents are still waiting to hear the actual cause of their daughter’s death following delays in the post-mortem examination. A specialist from the US believes that the condition Georgina was suffering with was Chiari. Chiari is a condition that causes the brain to press onto the spinal cord – a condition that…

Hospital apologises following patient death

Posted: 29 November 2014

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Negligent Cancer Diagnosis, Wrongful & Accidental Death

An East Sussex hospital has apologised to the family of a breast cancer patient who died following an operation in 2012. 35-year-old Nicole Haynes was undergoing a routine procedure at the Eastbourne District General Hospital to remove a tumour from her adrenal gland when the surgeon accidentally “clipped the wrong vessels”. It was heard that surgeon Steve Garnett had “misidentified” the arteries which caused the death of Mrs Haynes. An inquest at Eastbourne Town Hall heard that the surgeon had “readily admitted” to the surgical error. The mother-of-one had been undergoing…

No charges following nightclub crushing deaths

Posted: 19 October 2014

Posted in: Criminal Injury and Assault, Public Place Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

It has been decided that no criminal charges will be made following the deaths of two women in a nightclub crush in 2011. 22-year-old Nabila Nanfuka and 19-year-old Laurene-Danielle Jackson were both out at Lava & Ignite in Northampton on the 18th of October 2011. Around 1,500 had been in the nightclub when the crush happened during the “Wickedest Wickedest” event. Most of the clubbers had been university students who had travelled to the event on coaches. Three years following the incident, it has been ruled that no charges can…

Care failings responsible for teenage death

Posted: 27 August 2014

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A special care unit for people with learning disabilities is ‘unlikely to reopen’ after a teenage boy died in the bath last year. 18-year-old Connor Sparrowhawk was found unconscious in a bath at Slade House, Headington, Oxford, on the 4th of July last year. He died in hospital later that day. A recently released report ruled that the boy’s death could easily have been prevented. A post-mortem examination confirmed that Connor’s death was definitely caused by drowning; yet Connor suffered with severe epilepsy, which could have led to his head being…

West Country most dangerous place to work

Posted: 3 May 2014

Posted in: Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

New figures have revealed that the West Country is the most dangerous place to work in Britain. A report has found that over 6,500 people were injured and 12 people died while working in the South West of England between 2012 and 2013 – a figure higher than anywhere else in the UK. With a national average of 78.9 deaths/injuries for every 100,000 employees, the figure for the West Country currently stands at 81.4. The publication by the Health and Safety Executive has accused businesses of being responsible by not putting…

Bristol NHS ‘disgusting’

Posted: 5 March 2014

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

The family of a young boy who died shortly after heart surgery in Bristol Children’s Hospital have referred to NHS issues as “disgusting”. Luke Jenkins (7) was submitted to Bristol Children’s Hospital having suffered a cardiac arrest; he died shortly after heart surgery in March 2012. Luke’s parents recently discovered that his death was not recorded accurately in official figures submitted by the hospital. They complained to the medical director of the NHS, who replied with an apology admitting that there must have been a data error. Bristol’s NHS trust were unable…

Call for improved safety for rail workers

Posted: 19 February 2014

Posted in: Public Transport, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Ten years after an accident that took the lives of four men working on a railway line, a rail union has called for the safety measures of workers to be improved. The Rail, Maritime & Transport (RMT) said that not enough improvements have been made to protect workers following the accident that happened a decade ago, and that action must be taken now to prevent the accident from repeating itself. The men were killed by a runaway 16-tonne wagon on the West Coast Main Line at Tebay. A memorial service…

Council putting ‘lives at risk’ along river avon after another student death

Posted: 31 January 2014

Posted in: Public Place Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A councillor has highlighted the potential dangers of the River Avon seeing as safety measures have still not been implemented following a report published three years ago. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) produced a report in 2011, which highlighted numerous areas for improvement following the death of university student James Bubear. Three years on, safety measures have still not been installed, with broken ladders and submerged grab lines putting “lives at risk”. Independent councillor Dave Laming said that even though a safety railing was installed following…

Elderly patient died after ambulance crew lost keys

Posted: 26 November 2013

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Spine & Back Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

An NHS report has revealed that last month an 87-year-old man died after an East Midlands Ambulance Service crew lost the keys to their vehicle. The elderly man had suffered a cardiac arrest on a local golf course, Derbyshire golf pavilion, and died there despite having been provided with treatment. The report does not explicitly state that the lack of hospital transport was the reason for his death, but it has been listed as one of the eight EMAS incidents that were highlighted as being particularly serious in October. NHS England…

Go-kart firm fined following girl’s death

Posted: 7 November 2013

Posted in: Neck Injuries, Personal Injury, Public Place Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

The company responsible for the recent death of 18-year-old Suzanne Cornwell has been fined £10,000 for breaching health and safety laws. When Miss Cornwell’s scarf became tangled in her go-kart in December 2009, she suffered “critical” neck injuries and was unconscious when paramedics arrived at the Cambridgeshire raceway. Miss Cornwell, from Hardwick, had been at an out-of-hours go-karting session with friends when her scarf became tangled in the axle of her kart. The company – Peterborough Raceway Ltd – and the manager at the time – Paul Shinn – both pleaded…

Hospital delays responsible for man’s death

Posted: 6 October 2013

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A coroner has described 63-year-old Mike Martin’s case as “unacceptable” after he had to wait 13 hours in hospital before being taken into surgery, and sadly died during the wait. Mr Martin was taken into Northampton General Hospital in February 2012 after complaining of such severe pain that he could not lie down – he was then left for 13 hours before surgery was available to him. On Mr Martin’s arrival at the hospital, the A&E registrar diagnosed him as probably suffering from a strangulated hernia and recommended immediate surgery. This,…

Stafford nurse struck off following patient’s death

Posted: 20 September 2013

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

After Gillian Astbury (66) died at Stafford Hospital in 2007 after not receiving insulin, the nurse who failed to identify her diabetes has now been struck off. July saw the two nurses responsible, Ann King and Jeannette Coulson, being deemed guilty of medical misconduct by a Nursing and Midwifery panel. Jeannette Coulson has been given a cautionary charge that will last three years, while Ann King has been completely struck off by the panel. A hearing that took place earlier in the year found that both nurses were guilty of numerous acts…

Death in the Lake District provokes warning for swimmers

Posted: 14 July 2013

Posted in: Public Place Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

After the recent death of 21-year-old Matthew Joseph, a warning has been issued regarding the dangers of open-water swimming. Cumbria’s Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) pleads that swimmers avoid swimming in reservoirs, rivers and lakes. Matthew Oliver Joseph was airlifted to hospital earlier in the month after getting into difficulties swimming in the Lake District. Originally from Romford, London, he was rescued from Coniston Water after he was seen “in distress” when swimming with his friends. Friends tried to rescue him but were unable to get him out of the water. Mr. Joseph…

Leading cheese company fined following tractor death

Posted: 20 June 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

JA&E Montgomery Ltd have been fined a total of £120,000 after one of their farm workers was killed when the sub-standard tractor she was driving overturned. 26-year-old Kim Webb was out checking the cattle when she was thrown out of the vehicle in June 2009.  She was crushed as the tractor overturned and was later pronounced dead in hospital.   The tractor Kim was driving failed to meet health and safety regulations, missing both a seatbelt and roll-over bar, which are both essential safety devices for tractors. Because of this, Somerset-based JA&E…

TUC updates its guide to workplace safety

Posted: 12 March 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Industrial Deafness and Disease, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

The TUC has published an updated version of its guide to workplace safety, entitled ‘Hazards at Work’. The publication comes at a time of increased concern over a reduction in the number of workplace safety inspections and an increase in workplace fatalities. The TUC says that the current upward trend in workplace fatalities will be not be reversed unless there is an increase in the enforcement of health and safety law in all workplaces. The guide has 24 chapters on the common hazards and causes of ill health at work…

Fatal accident in warehouse

Posted: 11 March 2013

Posted in: Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Employers are failing to effectively manage the risks facing workers in the storage, warehousing and road haulage sector, according to the Health and Safety Executive. A recently reported fatal accident in a Corby warehouse provides an all too real example of how serious the consequences of these failings can be. Fatal accident The incident concerned forty-four-year-old Desanka Todorovic, who had entered the warehouse to collect flat-pack boxes. She was standing next to some racking as a forklift truck brought down some pallets. Sadly, the racking holding the packaging collapsed and…

Network Rail found guilty following fatal accident

Posted: 26 February 2013

Posted in: Car Accidents, Road Traffic Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Network Rail and one of its employees have been found guilty of breaching Health and Safety at Work regulations following the death of a woman at a level crossing in Herefordshire. Jane Harding died after her car was struck by a train at Moreton-on-Lugg level crossing in January 2010. The accident happened after signalman Maund raised the crossing barriers too early after mistakenly thinking the train had already passed. It had not and struck the Hardings’ vehicle as it passed over the crossing. The prosecution told Birmingham Crown Court that…