A labourer and bricklayer who was paralysed in a car crash in which his friend died in Cornwall has been awarded more than £2m in compensation.
According to the BBC, Anthony Bennett, 26, from Dobwalls, was in the backseat of a car driven by Jonathan Stephens when it crashed on the A390 near Liskeard in October 2003.
Mr Stephens died in the crash and Mr Bennett was left paraplegic. Mr Bennett’s claim was settled by Mr Stephens’ insurers and the sum was approved at a High Court hearing.
Lawyers for Mr Bennett were due to argue that Mr Stephens was at fault for the accident because he drove too fast and did not take appropriate action to avoid an obstruction.
But the issue was settled after long-running talks between the two sides and the right to a payout worth at least £2.25m was approved by Mrs Justice Sharp.
As a passenger in Mr Stephens vehicle, Mr Bennett is the ultimate innocent party in an accident. There is no way that Mr Bennett could have been held responsible for the accident and the only liability issue with which Mr Bennett’s solicitors would have had to deal with was whether Mr Stephens was fully at fault for the accident or whether there was another party also at fault with whom liability should be shared but this has clearly been resolved as Mr Stephens‘‘ insurers accepted that their insured was fully liable for the accident.
The compensation that Mr Bennett will receive will hopefully go some way to compensating him for the horrendous injuries that he has suffered and enable him to fund the adjustments to his life style that will be necessary as a result of the car accident. It might seem a large compensation payout but it will have to substantiate him for the rest of his life and in addition to his injuries also reflects his handicap in the open market in respect of work.
