A man has been refused compensation after suffering terrible injuries on a night out.

Johnathan Harvey had allegedly drunk up to eight pints when the incident happened as a student in Plymouth during 2003. He tripped over a chain mail fence and toppled over a wall, falling some 6 metres in the process. He landed on a concrete supermarket car park, and had been running away from a taxi driver before he tripped.

He suffered devastating head injuries and brain damage in the accident which has left him with mobility and communication problems. He spent eight months in hospital recovering.

He sued Plymouth council for compensation, saying that they failed to maintain the fence properly. Last year, a High Court ruling decided that although Mr Harvey was clearly at least partly responsible for the incident, the council had a 25% legal liability.

The council appealed this decision, and the Court of Appeal has just ruled in their favour. The case rested on the fact that Mr Harvey could not be classed as a “visitor” as necessary in the 1957 Occupiers Liability Act.

Both the Judge who made the ruling and the council itself however expressed their sympathy for the accident and the life altering injuries it caused.

A man who was made to walk through the streets with a sign round his neck after being caught stealing from his employer is making a compensation claim against his former boss.

Mark Gilbert was frogmarched to the police station with his hands secured behind his back by his then boss Simon Cremer. He was also made to wear a large cardboard sign around his neck with the words; “THIEF – I stole £845 am on my way to police station”, written on it.

Mr Cremer had found out that Mr Gilbert had just tried to forge a company cheque to himself to the value of £845. He admitted forging the cheque but claimed he was owed the money in wages and needed it urgently. He was given a caution by the police in 2008 after spending 4 hours in their custody.

The Daily Mail is reporting that Mr Gilbert is now making a compensation claim against his former boss for the psychological trauma he put him through. He claims that the stress and trauma has left him unable to work for two years and is claiming £90,000 in lost wages as damages. Although the company boss, Mr Cremer, has been cleared of doing anything wrong, he will be forced to fight this case against him or make a settlement out of court.

An American airline passenger has won a deafness claim after she claims to have lost her hearing due to a child screaming.

Jean Barnard had been battling for compensation in the US courts for over a year, but an agreement has finally been decided. She was flying with Qantas airlines in Australia during a dream holiday to the country and New Zealand. She alleged that a three year old boy that was sat across the aisle from her screamed at the top of his voice. Her ears started bleeding and she was in severe pain. She was let off the flight and taken to hospital in Alice Springs.

Jean Barnard now claims to be completely deaf because of the child screaming incident. She sued the airline claiming that staff had not done everything possible to protect her from injury. Qantas argued that she already had a hearing problem and wore hearing aids before the incident occurred. No one else was injured during the incident.

However, an agreement has now been reached, but the exact sum given in damages has not been released.

A group of 6 clubbers from the midlands have won a personal injury claim after they were injured on the dance floor.

The 6 claimants pursued claims against Wolverhampton City Council after they slipped at events held at Wolverhampton Civic Hall. They all alleged that they fell on the slippery dance floor that had had drinks spilled on to it at the “Cheeky Monkey” and “Blast Off” nightclub nights.

The legal case centred on the belief that the Council had failed to ensure their safety, by failing to keep the dance floor clean, principally by failing to stop people taking drinks on to it.

The Birmingham Post newspaper is reporting that the 6 have won compensation of £75,000 between them. Two of the cases were settled out of court, while the other 4 were ruled over at Walsall County Court. All the cases relate to incidences that happened between 2003 and 2006.

Wandsworth prison is facing a wave of personal injury claims after a salmonella outbreak rushed through the penal system.

During last September the salmonella bug struck at the prison causing sickness and diarrhoea to around 370 inmates and staff as well. Now a report by the Health Protection Agency has found the cause of the outbreak. Hundreds of raw eggs were cooked together at an inadequate temperature to make egg cress rolls. This meant that the whole batch of sandwiches was affected and hundreds became ill.

The outbreak came at the time of the swine flu epidemic, and all court appearances by Wandsworth prisoners were rearranged for later dates while tests on the illness were carried out.

Now The Ministry of Justice has admitted a failing in its duty of care. While the Prison Service admitted a “breach of duty”, it failed to comment further due to the ongoing legal cases. Hundreds of people are now making personal injury claims against HMP Wandsworth after becoming ill, and this admission makes the chance of settlements being agreed sooner more likely.

An Australian teacher is making a work injury claim for compensation after damaging her throat by shouting at her pupils.

Valissa Bauer was a teacher at Thabeban State School, located in Queensland, Australia from May 2006. The legal case resolves around her monitoring of a class of Year 6 and 7 pupils. This class was a large one, made up of 31 children with special needs. The class included two autistic children and several with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). She is claiming that continued reason to shout and raise her voice to control this particular class has left her with damage to her larynx.

In her lawsuit, Ms Bauer is claiming that the school has been negligent in looking after her health. She states that she should have been provided classroom assistance to deal with such a large class, and that the school should have rotated her duties to minimise her teaching of the said class. She also insists that she received insufficient training to cope with the pupil numbers and the school failed to monitor her ability to cope.

The Herald Sun in Australia is reporting that she is now claiming $420,000 Australian Dollars (£243,000) in compensation for her injuries to cover her loss of earnings, medical expenses and damages.

A woman has won a compensation claim against the Church of England after suffering shocking treatment at a church run care home.

Teresa Cooper was a resident at the Kendal House care home in Gravesend, Kent for three years in the early 1980s. She claims to have been forcibly drugged during her period there, with drugs such as tranquillisers and anti-depressants. She also claims to have been restrained and then sexually abused after she refused to take the medication.

These drugs she says have had a disastrous effect on her later in life, with all three of her children being born with birth defects. These include breathing difficulties, learning disabilities and a cleft palate.

During her search for justice, Mrs Cooper uncovered a further 18 women who also suffered pregnancies with birth defects after being sedated while residents at the care home. The Telegraph newspaper is reporting that she is now calling for an inquiry into the abuse and effects of sedation drugs on pregnancy.

Although the Church has not admitted liability for any incident alleged, it did agree an out of court settlement with Mrs Cooper. The compensation figure is thought to be at least £10,000. Mrs Cooper has reported that she hopes her case will help other victims of the care home.

Councils in the Sussex area of England have paid out £1.3 million pounds in compensation for personal injury claims during the last five years. The money was paid after people slipped and tripped on the pavements and roads maintained by those in question.

Figures just published in The Argus newspaper in Brighton and obtained in a freedom of information request highlight the extent of the settlements made to injury victims. East Sussex Council paid out over £700,000 in compensation for slip and trip accidents. Meanwhile Brighton and Hove Council paid out £388,888 and West Sussex Council just £215,749.

Some example claims include that of a walker who slipped on a public footbridge. They received £11,500 in compensation for the incident. Spokespeople for the relevant Councils highlighted that the figures were superior to similar sized towns and Council’s across the county. They also pointed out that millions of pounds is spent on pavement maintenance to try and curb the number of successful compensation claims.

A group of 40 holiday makers are suing their travel company for compensation after becoming ill on holiday in the Dominican Republic.

The group stayed at the Bahia Principe Hotel, at San Juan in the Dominican Republic on an all-inclusive basis. The four star resort however, has been reported to have served up some less than acceptable standards.

Holidaymakers report being served undercooked food on dirty plates and cutlery. They also claim birds, insects and mice were not cleared from the restaurant even getting onto the buffet food. They allege that tap water was masqueraded as bottled water and that the pool was contaminated with faeces.

The holidaymakers all suffered from acute gastro-enteritis from the standard of hygiene in the hotel. Symptoms included severe diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach cramps.

They are now attempting to claim compensation from the tour operator TUI Ltd. TUI runs operations world wide and operates under the brand name of First Choice in the UK. First Choice has admitted liability for a number of instances of illness at the resort and in a statement reiterated its commitment to ensuring strict health and hygiene standards in resorts it uses.

Greater Manchester Police have been forced to pay compensation to a group of 80 fans who they locked in a pub before a game.

The group of 80 Stoke City supporters had travelled up to Manchester to see their team take on Manchester United in November 2008. They were in the pub in Irlam, Manchester when the Police acted.

The GMP told them they were not allowed to leave the pub or even use the pub toilets, instead they were told they had to urinate into cups. They were then put onto coaches and taken back to the centre of Stoke and released there.

The steps were taken by the Police under the new Violent Crime Reduction Act which gives them powers to stop disorder.

However, the landlord of the pub wrote to the police commending the behaviour of the fans and claiming there was no chance of trouble occurring. The Police has apologised to the fans for “acting erroneously” and not fully understanding the new powers. They are paying compensation of £184,850 between the 80 fans.

To make the day worse for the fans, their team got beat 5-0 by Manchester United.