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Kyle Bullock was on his way home with friends on 22nd July 2007 when he was coming down Lightfoot Road, Haringey. This road was particularly steep with a 1 in 10 gradient. It was night time and whilst there were street lights it was the Claimant's case that the road was not terribly well lit. Worse than that however was the presence of large pot holes in the road. It was the Claimant's case and the evidence of his friends that he had stumbled in one of these potholes whilst coming down the road.
That had caused the Claimant to fall very heavily indeed and such was the gradient of the road, he was unable to prevent his fall. He suffered very serious brain damage. He was initially take to Whittington Hospital and placed in the intensive care unit. He later underwent brain surgery. He spent an extended period in a brain injury rehabilitation unit and required help and support with most aspects of daily living.
The Defendant, Homes for Haringey Ltd, initially denied responsibility although they accepted that they had not maintained the road to a proper standard. They denied that the potholes had caused the accident. The road had in fact already been logged in March 2007 as a road that was on the Network Priority List as requiring works. It appeared that the road may have been left in this condition for some years. Members of the public had also complained about the poor state of the road. Documents indicated that this road was one of the streets in the area that was "subject to high levels of complaints and accident claims." Eventually the claim in respect of liability settled in 2008 with the Claimant agreeing to accept 72.5% of his full claim value. This agreement was approved by the High Court in London.
There then followed litigation in which the Claim was to be valued. The Claimant was at the time working in London for a charity and lived with his partner in a newly purchased flat. He was not however able to return to work and his relationship faltered. He took the decision to return to Australia, where his mother and many of his friends were based to continue with his rehabilitation. Unfortunately Kyle went on to develop epilepsy. He now lives with the consequences of his brain injury on a daily basis and has help and support in Australia.
Following extensive litigation the claim was settled for a substantial sum which was approved before Sir Raymond Jack sitting as a Judge of the High Court on Monday 11th March 2013. His solicitor is Jill Greenfield, partner and head of the catastrophic injury claims unit at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP.
Jill Greenfield says, "Kyle has fought hard to recover a good quality of life following such a terrible accident. It is truly shocking to think that that this could have been avoided if Homes for Haringey had filled these holes. This has to be the worst case of a pot hole causing such serious injuries. My client's life has been turned upside down primarily due to the failure to maintain the road surface by Homes for Haringey; such simple steps could have been taken. I do hope that they have learned lessons from this. Red tape really must not compromise residents safety".
For further information, please contact:
Ibrahim Kamara, PR Manager, Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP on 020 7861 4120
Jill Greenfield, Partner, Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP on 0207 861 4557 or 07917 769 474