Brain damaged woman awarded £7m compensation

A disabled woman suffering from brain damage has been awarded £7m by the criminal injuries tribunal.

The woman, who cannot be named, was harmed as a baby and was awarded £215,000 when her case was initially heard in 2005.

The case was left open should the woman require future residential care and would need a further award to pay for care fees.

Ruth Markham of BHP Law commented: "As the case had been left open, we realised there was an opportunity to return to the tribunal for a review of the care costs and to make a claim that properly reflected the consequences of the damage caused to her as a baby and the on-going cost of care that she would need."

The woman was subsequently awarded £6,581,018 after deductions, including £4.5m for care.

Karen Pratt, who is a Court of Protection Deputy appointed by courts to manage significant compensation on behalf of clients, commented: "The compensation will allow us to provide the type of home environment our client needs.

"[It] will cover the costs of a full care and therapy package based on at least ten carers working in a 24-hour shift pattern, any equipment that is needed, a sensory room and a car for her carers to take her out in."

She added: "The compensation has to last a lifetime and will be managed and invested on her behalf to make sure that happens. When she dies, anything that is left over is returned to the criminal injuries fund."

The woman mother has said that the award has given her and her husband piece of mind that their daughter will be looked after if they ever become unable to.

She commented: "The most important thing for us is that we know she will be looked after for the rest of her life in her own home, with her own things around her, and cared for and stimulated by care professionals.

"She doesn't really have a life. It was taken away from her when she was a baby, and this is nothing more than she deserves."

Binyamin Ali is assistant editor of Private Client Adviser