The mother of a brain damaged girl is fighting for medical negligence compensation for the injuries she has suffered.

Nicola Bogle-Smith was admitted to Leicester Royal Infirmary heavily pregnant with her daughter Abbie on July 30 2002. She was given a drug to induce her contractions by medical staff. Abbie was born in the early hours the following day, though her heart was not beating and she had stopped breathing. She was revived by the delivery staff and treated in a specialist unit. It was revealed later she had suffered bleeding on the brain.

Abbie, now seven, suffered brain damage caused by her birth injuries and has been described as having “long-term and significant motor impairment.” Ms Bogle-Smith is claiming medical negligence compensation for the treatment of her and her daughter. She claims a decision to deliver Abbie should have been taken earlier as she was clearly showing signs of distress. It has been alleged that the senior registrar mistook the reading on Abbies’ heart monitoring – which highlights her being in distress – and instead went off to see another patient. This delay in delivery is claimed to be the cause of Abbie’s severe health problems.

The hospital in question – Leicester Royal Infirmary – has until the end of April to respond to the allegations and admit or deny liability. A spokesman, Dr Kevin Harris said; “We are aware of the tragic circumstances surrounding this case and we would like to offer our most sincere sympathies to Abbie and her family.”

A woman whose foot was crushed in an accident caused by a disgraced landlord from Norwich has won her accident claim.

Miss Green was just a child at the time of the accident which has left her crippled for life. The now 21 year old has been awarded £100,000 in compensation for her injuries after taking landlord Michael Billings to court. The accident took place in 1998 when the nine year old Miss Green was living in a caravan at Ashman’s Hall, owned by Mr Billings. He had encouraged her and her friend to ride in the bucket of a digger that he decided to operate despite not knowing how. With them in the bucket, he pressed the wrong button and ended up crushing her foot under the digger. She underwent a series of operations on her feet and now still experiences pain and struggles to walk long distances.

The accident claim was settled in 2007 after the long standing effects of her injuries were clear. Miss Green has decided to release her story in an attempt to warn others of the irresponsible behaviour of landlord Michael Billings. This comes as he is facing the possibility of jail after breaching fire regulations in a separate incident. He was convicted after a blaze in a terraced house left one of his tenants with 80% burns. He will be sentenced in May.

Mr Billings has a previous conviction for flouting gas appliance guidelines and putting tenants at risk. Miss Green described him as completely reckless and admitted that she “just wants people to know what he is capable of.”

The cost of clinical negligence compensation paid out by the NHS has risen dramatically over the last five years. The total paid out in compensation and legal fees for no win no fee cases has risen from £6.5 million in the period 2004-05 to £108 million this last year.

The NHS litigation authority has reported a large rise in cases last year alone. Clinical claims in England and Wales rose 11%, while non-clinical claims rose 10%. Although there were 1,579 successful no win no fee claims against the NHS in 2008-09, this is still thought to be a fraction of the number of people eligible to claim. This figure could rise dramatically, as a new law is set to be introduced at the beginning of April. This law makes hospitals legally required to report any mistakes and errors to a central, independent database.

MPs were quick to criticise the figures, claiming that litigation against the NHS is out of control. Some, including Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb, have called for limits on the amount possible to receive in an individual case. Such limits are seen by many as penalising the most severely affected by NHS mistakes. Many MPs have however called for wholesale review of the NHS litigation system after the general election.

A report by Lord Justice Jackson has proposed that legal fees be paid out of the clinical negligence compensation awarded rather than be paid directly by the NHS. Some people have criticised this proposal, again suggesting that financially penalising those who have suffered at the hands of NHS negligence is intolerable.

The victim of a record car crash has been awarded a record £11 million pounds in passenger injury compensation.

Wasim Mohammed suffered serious neck and spinal injuries in the crash back in the summer of 2006. The smash has left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, with complete paralysis in his legs and little function in his arms. This has quite obviously left Mr Mohammed needing round-the-clock care for the rest of his life.

He received a compensation settlement for his injuries this week before the case went to court. His payout is thought to be the highest for a personal injury case in the UK. He received a payment of four and a quarter million pounds with additional annual payments of £235,000.

The accident happened when Mr Mohammed was the passenger in a friends’ car. The car was trying to overtake another vehicle at a junction. While completing the manoeuvre at 40-50mph – in a 30mph zone – the other vehicle tried to turn right, forcing the overtaking car into a wall. Mr Mohammed’s friend was later convicted of careless driving.

Mr Mohammed spoke of his delight at the passenger injury compensation success; “I am pleased the case is over. I am very grateful to all those who have helped me since my injury.”

He has already built a house across the road from his family home. This is so that he can have family nearby while he receives the specialist care that he needs.

An Australian pilot who developed overwhelming urges to crash the plane he was flying has won his work injury claim.

During the late 1970s Bryan Griffin was a pilot for Qantas airlines. During flights he started to develop psychological urges to deliberately crash his plane. This developed into ignoring instructions and radio calls but was soon to get even more serious. On one occasion recalled by Mr Griffin, he remembers his left arm “involuntarily” moving towards the engine cut-off lever. He struggled to control the limb “as though it wasn’t his”, eventually strapping it down with his seatbelt.

After telling colleagues about such episodes, the airline sought him treatment with numerous psychiatrists. After a period of leave he was declared fit to fly and flew airlines for Qantas for a further three years. He resigned after this three year period complaining of depression and anxiety.

He successfully argued that Qantas was negligent in letting him return to flight and that his problems increased by continuing to work. The tribunal agreed with him and awarded him £100,000 compensation. It is unclear why there was such a long delay in bringing a work injury claim.

A Sussex teacher has been unsuccessful in his work accident compensation claim for being knocked over by a pupil.

Mr Cleary had undergone a year away from work after the accident injured his shoulder. In court he recounted how he had tried to protect a boy who was being pursued by a larger pupil. He attempted to close a fire door to end the chase but the larger pupil ran into his arm and knocked him to the floor.

Mr Cleary claimed that the school had been negligent in not informing him that the pupil had previously been suspended for bullying and was liable to be unruly.  Mr Cleary decided to defend himself in court rather than have a legal team. The judge however ruled against him at Hastings County Court expressing that the school could not be blamed for the accident. The school in question – Hillcrest School Hastings – has a clear health and safety policy of no physical intervention unless there is a danger of a pupil being injured.

Mr Cleary had originally tried to win £91,000 in his work accident compensation claim but had later dropped his request for damages to £20,000. However the judge ruled that he was not entitled to receive compensation, and was ordered to pay the council’s legal costs of £15,500. As Mr Cleary represented himself rather than use a no win no fee solicitor, he is responsible for paying the huge legal costs himself.

The Metropolitan Police is facing a large no win no fee compensation bill of up to £250,000 pounds from G20 protesters ‘unlawfully’ arrested.

The Police force performed a raid on a climate change group in London last April. The raid took place just one day after the G20 protests and has later been ruled to have been illegal. They stormed into the disused office block in east London brandishing taser guns. The demonstrators were handcuffed face down, arrested, searched and then forced to be recorded on film so that they could be compared to pictures of suspects from the previous day’s demonstrations.

Police chiefs claimed they had intelligence that violent protesters from the previous day were using the building as a squat. The force were prepared for trouble – loaded with men and weapons – as they entered the building, but the 70 protesters peacefully sat down. Some of the protesters were threatened and had taser guns aimed at them despite the fact that there was no trouble.

The Metropolitan Commissioner has admitted that the arrests were unlawful, as there were no reasonable grounds for suspicion. He was asked to apologise but refused, saying that admitting liability was enough. He agreed to pay £3000 compensation to two protesters who had already made their no win no fee compensation claim. If the other protesters unlawfully arrested follow suit, the Metropolitan police could be facing a bill of around a quarter of a million pounds.

A former Mothercare assistant manager has started a compensation claim against her previous employers for “injury to her feelings.” Thirty two year old Traci Winchcombe claims she suffered bullying and harassment at the hands of her manager – Jacque McDonald – after informing her that she was pregnant.

Traci was allegedly told to keep silent about her pregnancy in case it upset colleagues who had suffered miscarriages. Ms McDonald however refutes this claim, insisting she only informed Traci not to discuss abortions on the shop floor.

Ms Winchcombe has described to a tribunal how her Managers’ attitude changed for the worse towards her after learning she was pregnant. She also described being repeatedly shouted at and abused by Ms McDonald in front of customers and colleagues. On occasions, Traci was brought to tears by her treatment.

Mothercare strongly deny the allegations levelled at them by Ms Winchcombe, accusing her of uttering blatant “lies” in a malicious campaign against them. Ms McDonald maintains that Traci was given support about her pregnancy, including the company’s “maternity matters” guidance sheet. Traci was sacked from her position in May 2009 after a series of administration errors. She is not making a compensation claim for unfair dismissal but for the “injury to her feelings” caused by the bullying and harassment.

The Scottish Conservative party has condemned figures which reveal the length of time medical negligence claims are taking in the country.

On average, medical claim cases are taking between one and five years to complete. Surprisingly, some take much longer than that to settle, including one claim in Glasgow which dated back 21 years. Another claim in the Forth Valley area had taken a staggering 20 years to settle.

The figures were officially released by the Scottish Government and were immediately criticised by the Scottish Tories. Scottish MSP Margaret Mitchell expressed her concern that the “individuals concerned have had to live for many years with the negligence incident hanging over their heads.” She was also concerned that it left victims “without closure for an unacceptably long period of time.”

Some other cases took an undesirable period of time to settle too. One in Lanarkshire took 16 years, while others in Lothian and Fife took 15 and 14 years respectively. It is worth noting however that in cases of birth injuries suffered to babies, it is common to delay the case until the child reaches the age of 10, to fully assess the outcome of the injuries.

The Scottish Government also tried to defend the figures by saying that cases can take a long time if a formal proof hearing is needed.

The family of a soldier buried alive in a tragic accident in Iraq have been successful in their long compensation claim battle. They have received a £43,000 payout after the army were found to be negligent in their trench building procedures.

Twenty two year old Sapper Thomson from West Lothian was trapped and buried alive when a 10ft deep trench collapsed. It is thought he must have somehow fallen into the trench, the walls of which were not supported. The army had maintained that the accident was Sapper’s fault as he willingly entered the trench despite knowing the dangers to collect a soil sample.

However, Lord Bonomy yesterday decided that blame laid 80% with the Ministry of Defence, and 20% with Mr Thomson. It was successfully proved that the walls collapsed because of damp ground and water seepage caused by the proximity of a waterway. Supports had not been used to secure the walls, and no risk assessment had been completed.

Sapper Thomson was on his fourth tour of Iraq when the accident happened. His mother, Margaret Valentine received £42,000 for her compensation claim, while his brother Steven was awarded £1,200.

His mother expressed her relief after the decision; “It has taken six years and it was never, ever about the money. My laddie died a horrific death. He struggled to get out, but couldn’t. It was totally unsafe work and there was no regard for his safety.”