Accident Claim COmpensation for Braindamaged Man
A man left in a vegetative state after being knocked down by a drunk joyrider has been granted millions of pounds in compensation despite a legal challenge from insurers.
Gary Dawes, 44, suffered severe brain damage and broke almost every bone in his body when he was hit by 19-year-old Craig Aldis outside his home in Lynchet Close in Hollingdean, Brighton.
Insurance company NIG claimed he forfeited the right to compensation because he was partly to blame but a High Court judge decided he was due the damages to pay for the 24-hour care he will need for the rest of his life.
The former painter and decorator, now being treated in a rehabilitation centre in Northampton, was granted the money in a court case in July but the insurance firm responsible for the stolen car Aldis was driving decided to appeal the decision.
It said Mr Dawes should be held partly responsible for the accident because he had been drinking heavily on the night and had stepped into the road to “remonstrate” with the driver.
They said his damages payout should be significantly reduced as a result.
But the case was thrown out by a top judge who said there was no way anyone could know for sure how Mr Dawes came to be in the road when the tragic incident happened in February 2003.
Lord Justice Tuckey said: “Although it is possible that Mr Dawes had been guilty of contributory negligence the insurers had not established that to be so as a matter of probability.”
Sheila Riches, the solicitor representing Mr Dawes, said: “This is a brilliant result because he is going to require care for the rest of his life and any reduction in the amount of money he would receive would affect the level of care he could afford.
“Otherwise he would have had to rely on the state.
“The insurers said he went into the road so was partly to blame for the accident but we do not know where he was when he was knocked down.
“He could have been trying to get away.”
An earlier court hearing heard how for years Lynchet Close had been a magnet for joyriders because of its steeply-sloping curve and on the night in question Aldis, now 23, was driving up and down, revving the engine and making handbrake turns.
His path had been blocked by plain clothes police officers but he went on to the pavement to avoid them and sped off at 50mph on the wrong side of the road when he struck Mr Dawes, who was catapulted over the car.
Aldis stopped the car and ran off after the accident. He later pleaded guilty to pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle-taking and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
The exact amount Dawes will receive is yet to be agreed but in similar cases multi-million pound sums have been awarded.
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