Car crash victim gets £8m in compensation claim
A car accident victim has been awarded £8.35m compensation after he was left paralysed from the neck down.
The sum, awarded by the Newcastle High Court, will pay for his long-term care.
The 27-year-old was travelling in the back seat of a work colleague's car which crashed in Cambridgeshire.
Settlement was reached with the Motor Insurer's Bureau and it was assured that the compensation takes care of the victims of uninsured drivers.
It was found that the car crashed into a ditch and the car's driver did not have insurance.
The victim suffered damage to his spinal cord, a fractured spine and was left brain-damaged.
His injury lawyer said the total settlement was valued at nearly £10.5m, but the victim had accepted a 20% reduction because he was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
Mr Justice Burnett awarded the man the sum at a hearing on Tuesday at which the latter said he was "very pleased" with the compensation he had been awarded.
"It has taken a couple of years, but finally I have got it. I would like to thank everybody who supported me in this case, particularly my family and my injury lawyers, " said the victim.
Updated on 14/01/2010