fbpx

Lawyers Step In to Protect Negligence Victim Prey to Gambling Addiction

14th April 2022 By

The intense vulnerability of many negligence victims requires lawyers to take careful steps to protect them from exploitation by others and the consequences of their own poor decision-making. A case on point concerned a recipient of a seven-figure compensation award who was prey to a gambling addiction.

Medical staff decided to induce labour after the woman’s child tragically died in utero at about 33 weeks’ gestation. A high dose of a labour-inducing drug led to catastrophic uterine rupture and cardiac arrest. It was a truly life-threatening event and she had since endured chronic pain, together with psychiatric and psychosocial difficulties. Her most pressing need was for a carer to ease her path out of her current isolated existence. After proceedings were brought on her behalf, an NHS trust swiftly admitted liability on the basis that the drug had been over-prescribed.

The woman had received advance payments of compensation totalling a six-figure sum, with a view to funding her care on an interim basis before her case came to trial. However, due to her addiction, she had gambled away the great majority of that money. In response to that, she was declared a protected party and the Official Solicitor was appointed to act as her litigation friend.

After an overall £2.2 million lump-sum settlement of her claim was agreed, a private trust was established whereby the fund would be managed on her behalf by her brother under the supervision of a professional trustee. Although she had freed herself from her addiction, the professional oversight of the trust would be a great comfort to both her and her family.

In approving the settlement, the High Court noted that the trust arrangements would place a protective ring around her to ensure that the settlement sum was employed in her best interests. In a further measure to protect her from exploitation, the Court ordered that she must not be identified in reports of the case.

Source: Concious

Latest News

Tenants Can Purchase Freehold When Landlord Cannot Be Found

11th June, 2024 By

The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 gives qualifying leaseholders the right to join together to buy the freehold of their properties – a process known as collective enfranchisement. A recent case demonstrated that this right can be exercised even when the landlord cannot be found. The leaseholders of two flats in a terraced house wished to purchase it from the landlord, but were unable to ascertain his whereabouts and therefore could not serve notice on him under Section 13 of the Act. They therefore applied for an...

Court Refuses to Set Aside Divorce Order Applied for by Mistake

6th June, 2024 By

While the courts have a range of powers to set aside orders, they will only exercise them in limited circumstances. In a somewhat surprising case that has attracted much comment, the High Court declined to set aside a final order of divorce that had been applied for by mistake. A couple separated in January 2023, after more than 21 years of marriage. In October that year, while financial remedy proceedings were still ongoing, the wife's legal representatives inadvertently applied for a final order of divorce in respect of her instead...

Waiting Time for Grants of Probate Falls

3rd June, 2024 By

Following concerns last year about delays in processing probate applications, recent figures from HM Courts and Tribunals Service show that waiting times for grants of probate are continuing to improve. The average time from submission of a probate application to probate being granted fell to 11.3 weeks in March 2024, a decrease from 13.7 weeks in February and 13.8 weeks in January. This is the lowest figure since March 2023, when the average was 10.8 weeks. The longest waiting time since then was in November, at 15.8 weeks: that month,...

Late Appeal Against Tax Penalties Rejected

31st May, 2024 By

It is incumbent on taxpayers to make sure they fully comply with their obligations to file returns and pay any tax due. The point was illustrated by a recent case in which a taxpayer whose return had not been received by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) failed to persuade the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that he should be permitted to appeal against the resulting penalties. On the evening of 31 January 2014, the man had completed his 2012/13 Income Tax return on HMRC's website. Shortly afterwards he went to Cyprus, and...