JMW Solicitors Law Firm, Manchester - Employment, Family, Corporate and IP Law Expertise

Expert Witness Immunity

2011-02-01T09:30:00.001Z

Traditionally expert witnesses have been protected in court proceedings by expert witness immunity.

In January, the Supreme Court considered the issue of expert immunity in a two-day hearing of the case of Paul Wynne Jones v Sue Kaney.

Judgment is not expected for some time but it is anticipated that the Supreme Court may take this opportunity to lift expert immunity.

Mr Wynne Jones argued that the case of Stanton v Callaghan (1998 1 Q.B 75) – case law on the subject - is no longer relevant as expert immunity is inconsistent with the right to a fair trail and is not supported by the 2000 decision to abolish a barristers immunity from suit.

The case was granted a leap frog certificate meaning that Mr Wynne could take the issue directly to the Supreme Court and bypass the Court of Appeal.

This case poses the risk that expert witness immunity could be abolished entirely or severely curtailed. This could therefore impact on the number of experts available to provide evidence in litigation. This would then impact on costs and the time frames for providing evidence. However, there may be some benefit, the ruling could lead to increased professionalism of expert witnesses and there are obvious consequences of this to both solicitors and clients.
Traditionally expert witnesses have been protected in court proceedings by expert witness immunity.

In January, the Supreme Court considered the issue of expert immunity in a two-day hearing of the case of Paul Wynne Jones v Sue Kaney.

Judgment is not expected for some time but it is anticipated that the Supreme Court may take this opportunity to lift expert immunity.

Mr Wynne Jones argued that the case of Stanton v Callaghan (1998 1 Q.B 75) – case law on the subject - is no longer relevant as expert immunity is inconsistent with the right to a fair trail and is not supported by the 2000 decision to abolish a barristers immunity from suit.

The case was granted a leap frog certificate meaning that Mr Wynne could take the issue directly to the Supreme Court and bypass the Court of Appeal.

This case poses the risk that expert witness immunity could be abolished entirely or severely curtailed. This could therefore impact on the number of experts available to provide evidence in litigation. This would then impact on costs and the time frames for providing evidence. However, there may be some benefit, the ruling could lead to increased professionalism of expert witnesses and there are obvious consequences of this to both solicitors and clients.

Birth Centre Negligence

2011-01-27T15:20:00.001Z

This week's press coverage of the Theo Kramer birth centre negligence case has led me to consider the value of birthing centres and the role these centres play in the delivery of some of the 700,000 babies born in the UK each year.

Theo, who is represented by JMW Solicitors, has this week been awarded £6.4 million settlement after Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust acknowledged that Edgware Birthing Centre was negligent. As a consequence of the events surrounding his birth, Theo has been left with brain damage.

There is often debate in the media about birthing centres. So what are the main differences in the care received at a birthing centre compared to a hospital maternity unit?

Birthing centres typically only accept expectant mothers who are 'low risk'. The units are often midwife-led and provide facilities such as ensuite birthing rooms, birth pools and birth balls. Partners are encouraged to stay overnight with the expectant mothers and as such beds are provided. The main advantage is that the care is, in theory, 'One -to -One’; the centres aim to achieve a relaxed atmosphere.

The major disadvantage of giving birth at a birthing centre is the lack of medical care. This limits the care they can provide, for example, caesarean sections, epidurals and some forms of pain relief can not be administered. Birth Centres may not have the same level of facilities to monitor the baby before birth as was the case with Theo. However, most are linked to a nearby hospital and transfer can me made to an obstetric unit. One of the issues with Theo's delivery was that the transfer to the nearby hospital was not as timely or smooth as would be expected. Transfer rates need to be improved to ensure that if a complication develops that an appropriate delivery is commenced as soon as possible.

There is no doubt that birthing centres are an important asset in today's NHS - providing a second tier to labour care in a particularly overstretched area of healthcare. However, appropriate staffing levels, training, transfer rates and up-to-date equipment are necessary for these centres to ensure that clinical standards are maintained, and as this case demonstrates, tragedies avoided.

We bet Katie wished she had a Pre-Nup

2011-01-26T16:12:00.003Z

Now Katie Price has confirmed that she and her husband Alex Reid are separating it seems probable that a divorce will follow. If true, will she regret not having a pre-nup?
Pre-nuptial agreements are often used when celebrities and the rich marry, despite them not being legally binding in England and Wales.
There are cases though where a prenup have been upheld. In the recent case of Radmacher versus Granatino the court upheld the pre nup and Mr Granatino’s settlement was reduced from £5m to £1m. The decision being that the courts may give effect to pre-nups freely entered into by both parties with a full appreciation of its implications.
Given such a decision, Katie Price may well have protected her fortune had she had a pre-nup. Who knows why she decided against it?
Maybe she knew she ran the risk of the pre-nup being disregarded by the courts as “unfair” if Alex argued emotional duress. After all it was somewhat of a quick engagement.
Or perhaps she never thought the marriage would last long and decided to take the risk of the courts deciding a settlement based on the relatively short length of the marriage and excluding some or all of her amassed wealth.
Whatever the reason, if it had been a longer marriage the outcome could have been extremely negative for Katie simply because she hadn't entered into an agreement before marriage.

Out-of-our hours GP care

2011-01-17T10:48:00.005Z

"This week's press coverage of Brian Dowsett, a JMW client currently pursuing a clinical negligence claim, serves as a reminder of the ongoing issue of out-of hours GP care in the UK. Cases such as Mr Dowsett's are becoming all too familiar in the press and indicate a change is necessary in the way such care is regulated.

Brian Dowsett was seen by two doctors who worked for the independent service provider Croydoc when in January 2007 they failed to diagnose a clot. When at last Brian was diagnosed, he required surgery to amputate his leg above the knee.

This case brings to mind last year's much publicised case of Dr Ubani, the German doctor struck off the UK medical register following the death of David Gray in February 2008. Dr Ubani administered a fatal dose of 100mg diamorphine injection- ten times the recommended amount - whilst working his first shift in the UK for a private service provider.

Since 2004, GP's have been allowed to transfer responsibility for out-of-hours care to the Primary Care Trust (PCT). Often the care is then 'contracted out' to be provided by an independent service provider.

Often these service providers employ doctors from overseas, most often from the European Union, without an adequate period of induction or training, or adequate checks to their suitability. The European Union Directive 93 allows such doctors to be accepted on the GMC primary care register without checking the individuals training, employment record, clinical competency and most importantly their language proficiency. This directive facilitates the free movement of doctors within the EU with mutual recognition of their qualifications but the death of David Gray demonstrates what can happen in the absence of such checks.

The case did provoke debate and change, such as this House of Commons Health Committee Report (The use of overseas doctors in providing out-of-hours services) http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmhealth/441/441.pdf demonstrates. However as long as care is provided by doctors unfamiliar with local health services, allowed to practice with their medical competency unchecked, one can not help but suspect that substandard care will occur and may result in an equally tragic outcome.

I personally feel that measures need to be put in place to regulate doctors providing out-of-hours care. I understand that the EU Directive means that the GMC's hands are tied with regards to the tests that they can enforce on GP's wishing to register. Any attempt by the GMC to restrict the free movement of medical staff would be deemed as 'unlawful' by the EU. In the absence of this, the NHS needs to establish a method of ensuring that high standards of care are met by suitable staff.

Health secretary Andrew Lansley seems keen to make steps towards this by recently announcing his wish to agree a policy which would allow all European doctors to be tested on their language and clinical competencies before entering employment in the UK. This task will be undertaken by the NHS Commissioning Board as part of the reforms proposed in the recent White Paper ''Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS''. Change seems to be on the horizon, but will it be enough?''

Out-of hours Doctor Fails to Diagnose Blood Clot - JMW client featured on BBC news programme

2011-01-13T16:04:00.005Z

JMW is currently investigating a clinical negligence claim on behalf of Brian Dowsett who featured in a recent BBC1 programme, Inside Out. Brian's story has also featured in the local and national press.

Mr Dowsett, 74, was seen by an out-of-hours doctor, Dr Hans Raj Yadav in 2007 when he developed pain in his right leg. Dr Yadav had previously been suspended by a different out-of-hours provider over concerns about his clinical competence. Dr Yadav failed to diagnose a blood clot, despite Mr Dowsett's complaint of pain and numbness in his leg, which had turned white and was very cold to the touch. Days later, Mr Dowsett was diagnosed with an arterial obstruction and underwent surgery, although it was too late to save is leg which was amputated shortly afterwards.

JMW is pursuing the claim against both Dr Yadav and a second defendant, also an out-of-hours GP. Both defendants worked for the privately run Croydoc, now known as Patient Care 24. Dr Yadav has admitted that he was negligent in failing to refer Mr Dowsett to hospital urgently. He has since been struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC). The second defendant has made an initial denial of liability. The case is ongoing.

Sally Leonards, Partner at JMW, is currently pursuing the claim on behalf of Mr Dowsett. Sally, a specialist clinical negligence solicitor commented: "This case highlights the inadequacy of the system of governance of out-of-hours GP care which has serious implications for patient safety. It is of particular concern that Dr Yadav was able to continue in practice for so long when it is clear that his performance was seriously deficient in many areas of medicine, which was the view formed by the GMC. My client's life has been seriously blighted as a result of the loss of his leg. I hope for his sake that the legal proceedings are concluded quickly and successfully.

Government reviews on the future of legal aid and the funding of civil claims

2010-11-29T14:15:00.004Z

This month the Government has announced 2 reviews covering the future of legal aid and the funding of civil claims which if implemented will have wide ranging implications for claimants seeking compensation for clinical negligence.

On legal aid the Ministry of Justice declares:

"The proposals represent a radical, wide-ranging and ambitious programme of reform which aims to ensure that legal aid is targeted to those who need it most, for those cases in which legal advice or representation is justified."

In reality it will mean no legal aid for patients wishing to bring a claim for compensation with perhaps the only exception being children who have suffered massive brain injury.

The reform of conditional fee (no win no fee agreements) is also likely to result in solicitors being less willing to take on cases.

The Law Society has warned that the latest government plans to reform legal aid and civil litigation funding will:

"severely threaten access to justice."

For all of us interested in the rights of those who have suffered a medical accident and seek financial redress the coming months are bound to prove a challenging time.

Civil partnership dissolutions rising

2010-08-26T15:48:00.000+01:00

The number of civil partnership dissolutions granted in the UK in 2009 almost doubled when compared to the preceding year, according to new figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In 2008, 180 couples were granted a civil partnership dissolution, yet 2009 saw a 95 percent increase to 351.

Of these, 327 were granted in England and Wales and 24 in Scotland. No civil partnership dissolutions were granted in Northern Ireland.

More female couples dissolved their civil partnerships than men in both England and Wales and Scotland in 2009.

Female couples were responsible for 63 percent of the English and Welsh civil partnership dissolutions. Just over one third of the granted dissolutions in England and Wales were to male couples.

The ONS provisional statistics reveal that 2009 saw a decrease in the number of civil partnerships taking place, from 7,169 in 2008 to 6,281.

Over 40,000 civil partnership agreements have been granted in the UK since the Civil Partnership Act 2004 was enacted in December 2005. The change in the law was widely welcomed by human rights campaigners who saw the Act as a way to ensure that gay couples receive similar rights in family law to heterosexual couples in the event of relationship breakdown

Surgical error compensation for mother who had swab left inside

2010-08-26T15:42:00.000+01:00

Compensation has been paid to a mother after a surgical error meant that a medical swab was left inside her following the birth of her son.

The 31-year-old woman still suffers from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and agoraphobia following the incident in December 2007 at St Helier Hospital, Surrey.

The clinical negligence occurred during her first son's delivery as medical staff used swabs to stem bleeding while she was given stitches. Subsequently, one of the swabs remained inside her.

She began feeling unwell after leaving hospital with constant headaches and feeling sick then was given antibiotics by doctors who diagnosed an infection. In the following two weeks she was seen twice by medical professionals but it was the victim herself who realised the problem and returned for treatment.

The mother said it took her four months to physically recover from the trauma.

A spokesman for Epsom and St Helier Hospital NHS Trust said it had apologised to the woman for the medical negligence and subsequent distress to her and her family. Changes had been put in place to prevent a recurrence.

An out-of-court settlement of £3,000 was paid for the surgical error.

Unusually busy August for mergers and acquisitions

2010-08-25T15:36:00.000+01:00

Although August is usually a quiet month for mergers and acquisitions, corporate lawyers and financiers in this sector have been unexpectedly busy this year, particularly in the energy sector.

According to a report in The Guardian, data from ThomsonReuters shows the global M&A weekly volume has been the highest since November last year and the busiest August week since 2006.

One banker was quoted as saying people were feeling more confident and companies could now afford to seek corporate finance to buy other businesses since the credit crunch had forced them to reduce debt and become more cost-efficient.

Chief Economist of Hermes Asset Management Neil Williams said, "The one sector in the economy that is cash-rich at the moment is the corporate sector."

An increase in mergers and acquisition activity will see a commensurate increase in income for the investment banks which charge percentage fees for the corporate finance deals they arrange.

Company solicitors' advice needed on avoiding Companies House penalties

2010-08-25T15:33:00.000+01:00

Company solicitors who advise boards of directors on their responsibilities for filing corporate accounts will be reminding them, and their accountants or finance directors, of the need for care when submitting the firm's Annual Returns to Companies House.

The Government regulatory agency is warning that there has been an error rate of more than 11% in the returns it has received this year – a much higher percentage than usual and it points out the penalties if a subsequent re-filing misses the deadline and an automatic late filing penalty is issued.

It says that most of the mistakes are simple errors or omissions such as completing the incorrect Statement of Accounts or a duplicate from a previous year being returned without any amended dates.

Signatories at the bottom of balance sheets are often missed off when the accounts are submitted. A director, or designated member for a LLP, must sign at the foot of the balance sheet. Every sheet and Directors' Report must also state the name of the person who signed on behalf of the board.

There are other reasons for rejection of annual returns and Companies House says that many of the legal problems could be avoided if businesses used its Webfiling online service.

Commercial lawyers will be able to advise small and medium enterprises on the provisions of the Companies Act and how to avoid administration difficulties with the potential for fines when submitting Annual Returns and Accounts.

Family law lawyers' ability to offer access to justice curtailed

2010-08-23T15:44:00.000+01:00

Many family law lawyers were angered and dismayed by the recent allocation of family law legal aid contracts by the Legal Services Commission (LSC).

Proposed cuts to the Ministry of Justice's (MoJ) budget have been blamed for the reduction in the number of firms given the new three-year contracts for publicly funded family law work and the Law Society has sent a pre-action protocol letter to the LSC challenging the lawfulness of their decision.

A statement made by the president of the Law Society, Linda Lee, highlights the family law profession's ethic that it has a responsibility to protect the public interest and that a reduction in access to justice, particularly when it affects some of the most vulnerable in society, cannot be in the public interest.

The statement declared the willingness of the Law Society to engage in talks with the LSC and the MoJ in a bid to avoid litigation and resolve the urgent issues, but, it was stressed that if an agreement could not be reached, the Law Society were prepared to bring proceedings before the High Court.

The LSC's handling of the recent tender round of family legal aid contracts has seen the number of firms whose family law lawyers will be able to undertake publicly funded work after 14th October 2010 reduced from 2,400 to 1,300. Critics have suggested this will leave some clients in a "legal advice desert" and unable to quickly gain access to justice when they need it most.

MP's totting up ban after using a mobile phone while drivin

2010-08-23T15:39:00.001+01:00

A former barrister and human rights lawyer, who was elected as a Bolton MP in May, has been disqualified from driving under the totting up system after she admitted using a mobile phone while driving.

Bolton magistrates were told that Yasmin Qureshi was seen by police in the town four days after the General Election on May 10 speaking on her phone while driving her Vauxhall Astra. When stopped, she was also found not to have valid insurance for the vehicle.

It was stated that she had committed a previous offence of using her phone while driving a year earlier and was found guilty of speeding charges in 2007 and 2009.

The MP's solicitor said that she had not knowingly failed to pay for insurance and there had been some type of administrative error.

She had used the phone to respond to a call from her sister because their mother was ill, he said. He added that a driving ban would inconvenience her greatly when she needed to visit constituents in Bolton South East.

In sentencing, the magistrates said that although driving without insurance was a serious offence because of evidence that she had been insured in previous years they accepted there had been an oversight. The fine was reduced because of her relatively early guilty plea.

As well as a six-month ban, she was fined £950 for driving uninsured, £300 for using a mobile phone while driving and has to pay £35 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Clinical negligence fears over loss of patient safety organisation

2010-08-20T15:20:00.001+01:00

The National Patient Safety Agency, which is responsible for highlighting problems in the NHS that either have caused incidents of clinical negligence to patients or have the potential to do so, is among the health quangos which are to be closed or merged by the Government.

The agency maintains a record of misdiagnosis and similar doctor errors or medical negligence from information supplied by health staff and organisations throughout the UK and then issues reports and warnings to prevent a recurrence of the problem.

Chief executive of the charity Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) Peter Walsh said there was a danger patient safety could become less important under the new system where the agency's work would be taken over by the new NHS Commissioning Board.

"We will want to be assured that the new arrangements will include safeguards to ensure that patient safety really does get the priority it needs and that the skills, knowledge and passion of those who currently champion patient safety are transferred to the new body.

"It would be a mistake not to build on the start that has been made on patient safety, which would inevitably lead to many more avoidable tragedies."

Currently, the agency oversees the National Reporting and Learning Service, the National Clinical Assessment Service and the National Research Ethics Service. It also commissions and monitors the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health and the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death.

As an ‘arm's length body' of the Department of Health, the National Patient Safety Agency is one of the organisations earmarked for abolition or major changes as part of government cost-cutting measures. Others from the current 18 such bodies include the Health Protection Agency, the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse and the Alcohol Education and Research Council.

The Care Quality Commission, which has some responsibilities for clinical negligence issues, in future will be over-seeing the work previously done by the Human Tissue Authority, which is to be abolished.

Compensation for medical negligence by supermarket pharmacy

2010-08-19T15:15:00.001+01:00

A medical negligence error by a supermarket pharmacist in supplying heart drugs instead of prescribed steroids led to a 63-year-old Glasgow woman receiving emergency hospital treatment.

Newspapers reported that the woman had been suffering from a chest infection and her GP gave her a prescription for medication which a friend took to the pharmacy at a Morrisons supermarket for dispensing.

Twenty minutes after she took eight of the supplied tablets she received a call from the store where the pharmacist's error had been realised and the grandmother was told she should urgently call an ambulance because of the risk to her health.

She said that Glasgow Royal Infirmary doctors told her they were worried that her slow heart rate and low blood pressure could be fatal but after several hours she recovered sufficiently to return home.

A spokesman for Morrisons said, "Our pharmacists are highly trained and, as such, an incident of this nature is extremely rare and is taken very seriously. A full investigation has been carried out."

The store sent the woman a letter of apology and £3,000 in a goodwill gesture of compensation for the medical negligence she had suffered.

Commercial lawyers warned over contract agreements

2010-08-19T14:51:00.000+01:00

Commercial lawyers will be looking closely at a Supreme Court ruling which declared that an unsigned draft agreement between two businesses could be held to be a binding contract.

The corporate law case involved the multi-national dairy products manufacturer Müller which had sent a letter of intent to a company, RTS Flexible Systems, asking it to supply an automated packaging system for its Shropshire factory and saying that a detailed contract would be signed within four weeks.

In that period, RTS began work on the machinery and a further agreement made but not signed. A dispute developed between the companies when Muller stopped payments to the packaging firm because the equipment was not as efficient as expected.

In a subsequent legal dispute, at the High Court, Muller won its case, claiming after the expiry of the letter of intent the parties had agreed to continue for the price previously agreed and that the contract was based on those limited terms rather than those of the final draft version.

RTS went to the Court of Appeal and won the hearing with a judgement that no contract existed after the expiry of the letters of intent.

The Supreme Court reached a different conclusion to both the High Court and the Court of Appeal by finding that, although there was no formal contract, Müller and RTS did reach a legally-binding agreement and that it contained wider terms than the limited terms as found by the judge.

The Court of Appeal order was set aside and the higher court judges said that by going ahead with the work, at the agreed price, the parties had waived the usual "subject to contract" wording requiring the agreement to be signed.

Lord Justice Clarke said the case demonstrated the perils of beginning work without agreeing the precise basis on which it was to be done and that the moral of the story was to agree first and to start work later.

Although all commercial solicitors who handle contract law will be aware of the need for clarity in drafting agreements between its clients and customers, this case further emphasises the need for caution in timing the start of any work, especially if a considerable sum of money is involved.

Corporate solicitors help Tony Blair keep finances under wraps

2010-08-18T14:44:00.000+01:00

News that former Prime Minister Tony Blair will donate proceeds from his forthcoming autobiography to the Royal British Legion has brought back into focus the complex structure of his personal finances which have been organised by his corporate solicitors and accountants.

A loophole in UK company law has allowed for only restricted accounts for his companies to be published.

According to newspaper reports, Tony Blair has six companies registered in his name, all of which have names beginning with Windrush or Firerush. Although two of them have declared company accounts, the other four are limited partnerships or limited liability partnerships, which do not have to file full accounts.

He has a limited partnership, Windrush Ventures No 3 LP, which would normally have to disclose its figures but a second partnership, Firerush, is one of its notional partners and money can be transferred between the two without necessarily being revealed.

Tony Blair Associates (TBA), which is the former politician's umbrella business company, has been registered with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and there has been press speculation that he is intending to create a bank or corporate finance vehicle.

Documents with the FSA show that Firerush Ventures No 3, trading as Tony Blair Associates, is allowed to arrange deals in investments for clients.

A spokesman for Mr Blair, who was a lawyer before entering Parliament, denied any form of banking service provision by TBA was planned.

He said, "The very idea that Tony Blair is starting a bank or finance house for the super-rich is fatuous ... As we explained at the time, FSA approval was simply sought out of an abundance of caution ... Tony Blair Associates provides strategic advice on a commercial and pro-bono basis, on political and economic trends and governmental reform."

Mr Blair, whose commercial activities are believed to have earned him more than £20m in the three years since he left the Government, has a Mayfair, London, office with a staff approaching 200. They include workers for his charity interests as well as political and economic advisers, financiers and corporate solicitors.

Family law lawyers involved in major conference on child relocation

2010-08-17T15:23:00.000+01:00

More than 150 family law lawyers, judges, psychologists, academics, researchers and relative field specialists met in London at the Centre for Family Law and Practice, London Metropolitan University between 30th June and 2nd July 2010 for the conference on International Child Abduction, Relocation, and Forced Marriage.

Conclusions and Resolutions from the conference have now been published and can be accessed in PDF format here.

With regard to child relocation cases the conference outcome saw an endorsement of the Washington Declaration of March 2010. It was stated that relocation outcomes should be ruled upon without any presumption for or against relocation and support was given for the development of a common international framework to guide rulings upon such exercises of discretion.

The London conference made a request for a discussion at the next meeting of the Special Commission of the Hague Conference regarding the proposal of an International Instrument for a common framework to resolve disputes over child relocation.

Where a relocation order has been granted the London Conference wanted to see the destination country's respect and upholding of any contact provisions made.

With regard to child abduction in family law, the conference made strong calls for a unification of the interpretation of Hague Abduction Convention concepts. Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) deals with the voice of the child and it was agreed that the same principles should be applied to child abduction proceedings.

There were strong arguments for safeguards for the return of children and the need for protection via a court order once a child is returned to their country of jurisdiction.

The London conference felt there was a need for greater use of mediation, possibly via family law lawyers and children's agencies, in all child relocation and abduction cases arising after divorce and relationship breakdown.

Man with poor vision caused disabled woman's death by careless driving

2010-08-17T15:11:00.000+01:00

An 87-year-old man, whose eyesight was not up to driving standard, escaped punishment despite admitting causing the death by careless driving of a disabled woman because an accident expert regarded the victim's actions as reckless.

Sheffield Crown Court was told that the war veteran had cataracts in both eyes and age-related macular degeneration, causing his vision to be ‘foggy' when he was driving home at 10pm in December 2008 and was in collision with a motorised scooter driven by a 43-year-old spina bifida sufferer.

The victim's scooter was in the road, accompanied by a carer, travelling in the same direction as the Ford Sierra driver and had been seen by other motorists at the time. Both women were injured in the car crash with the disabled woman dying from the consequences of her injuries six weeks later.

An accident investigator said it was reckless of the women to be on the carriageway with a black wheelchair, which had no lights or reflectors and was unlicensed for road use, although he added that the driver should have seen them on the well-lit road.

It was found that the pensioner could only read from a distance of six metres compared with 24 metres which a person with normal eyesight could see.

In giving him an absolute discharge, Judge Robert Moore said, "Punishment is not appropriate, the fact of the conviction is the real punishment."

He found special reasons not to impose a driving ban and ordered three penalty points on the man's licence, which has since been revoked by the DVLA because of his medical condition.

The driver's lawyer said his client had held a clean driving licence without a motoring offence for 69 years, including a long period as a taxi driver, and the situation which confronted him was not of his own making.

He was unaware of any decline of his vision and felt he was morally almost without blame for causing the death by careless driving.

Two-thirds of drivers admit to potential dangerous driving activity

2010-08-16T14:54:00.000+01:00

Nearly two-thirds of UK drivers interviewed in a survey admitted taking part in an activity behind the wheel which could have been considered dangerous driving if reported to the police.

The research by Sainsbury's Car Insurance revealed that 64% of motorists said they could have committed a motoring offence in the month of July because they were not concentrating either by doing something else as well as driving or feeling tired, which was admitted to by 28% of respondents.

A total of 38% told researchers they had been eating and/or drinking while on the road and, perhaps as a reflection of the warmer weather this year, 18% said they had driven in flip-flop sandals or without shoes, compared with 14% in this category in a comparable survey in 2009.

There was excessive speeding by 16% of those questioned while 8% said they had driven without a seat belt.

The 11% who used a hand-held mobile phone plus the 6% who sent a text message could well have been facing a prosecution for a driving offence if they had been spotted. A drink-driving charge may have been the outcome for the 11% who drove after drinking the night before and 6% who said they had been drink-driving in the month of the survey.

Reading a map while in charge of a car and succumbing to road rage were some of the other instances of dangerous driving which were also highlighted by the survey.

Ben Tyte of Sainsbury's car insurance department said drivers often became complacent and then drove in a manner which had the potential to harm themselves or other road-users.

"Simple actions like eating or drinking behind the wheel or driving with flip flops on can significantly increase the risk of you having an accident so we would urge motorists to focus on their driving and not be tempted to engage in anything that may distract them."

Commercial solicitors examine Court of Appeal warranty decision

2010-08-14T14:49:00.000+01:00

Commercial solicitors acting for companies making acquisitions or disposing of businesses are studying the implications of a Court of Appeal judgement which held that the seller of a company was not in breach of a management accounts warranty because it did not know a liability of £2.4m had not been included in the management or audited accounts because of a computer inputting error.

The liability was discovered after the deal, which involved the sale and purchase of shares in a holding company of an energy group supplying gas to UK customers, had been completed.

The buyer said there had been a breach of warranty under the sale and purchase agreement and sought damages on the basis that the accounts prepared before the sale did not present a true and fair view of the assets and liabilities of the company and that the management accounts were materially misleading.

The Court of Appeal found that the accounts had been prepared and complied with published professional standards and that there was strong evidence that they provided a true and fair view of the assets and liabilities.

Because the liability was unknown at the time of the sale and could not reasonably have been discovered, it could not have been included in the accounts, which the court decided gave a true and fair view of the group's position for that year.

Leaving out the £2.4m liability did not render the warranties untrue and the court dismissed the damages claim.

The judges' definition of the management accounts being ‘not misleading' was not that the accounts included financial liabilities which were unknown or undiscoverable but simply meant they contained information which one would expect management accounts to include.

Corporate lawyers advising buyers of businesses are now likely to advise greater caution or more restrictive warranty clauses but sellers will be reassured that if their accounts have been prepared to professional standards and include all known and reasonably discoverable liabilities, they should be covered against legal action if further information comes to light after completion of the sale.

Reverse takeover rules ease for corporate solicitors and clients

2010-08-13T14:46:00.001+01:00

Corporate solicitors who handle takeovers are studying the implications of a change in policy by the UK Listing Authority (UKLA), whereby the previous requirement for listing suspension when a proposed reverse takeover is announced and subsequent financial investigation would have taken many months, is likely to be reduced because of less stringent financial information now being needed.

Neither notes to the financial statements nor an audit opinion now will be required and this should streamline the system, enabling restructuring to take place more quickly when a private company wishes to merge with a public company as a means of entering the market.

The new requirements are for three years of financial information on the whole business being acquired, confirmation that the announcement of the reverse takeover has sufficient information to assess the business' financial position, a private comfort letter from the sponsor, any notable difference between the issuer's current accounting policies and those of the target, non-financial operating or performance measures, current trading and an official commitment to inform the market of any developments of the target business.

Corporate lawyers can study the detailed text in LIST! No 25 on the UKLA pages of the Financial Services Authority website.

£40k compensation for clinical negligence of diabetic woman who fell into coma

2010-08-13T11:34:00.000+01:00

A hospital trust, which neglected a diabetic woman's need for dietary monitoring and allowed her to fall into a fatal coma, has agreed to pay her widower £40,000 for its clinical negligence.

The out of court settlement by Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust followed criticism by the coroner at an inquest into the woman's death which resulted from lack of care at Prospect Park Hospital, a psychiatric hospital.

The 68-year-old victim, who had a history of psychotic problems and confusion as well as diabetes and heart disease, was at the hospital for observation but staff did not ensure she ate properly or had her glucose levels checked and, after a week of unchecked deterioration, she became comatose.

It was then up to 18 hours before she was transferred to another hospital for medical treatment but her condition was irrecoverable and she died two weeks later when bronchial pneumonia developed as a result of brain injury brought on by her diabetes.

A spokeswoman for the healthcare trust said it had apologised to the victim's widower at the time and since the incident had put extra safeguards and training in place.

A clinical negligence solicitor who acted for the family said it was a successful outcome to what had been a very sad case and that they would be making a donation from the damages payment to the Diabetes UK charity in memory of the woman.

Economic Crime Agency to have new corporate law powers

2010-08-12T14:52:00.000+01:00

The new Economic Crime Agency (ECA), which the Chancellor has announced will investigate and prosecute all corporate crime, should have greater powers, according to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) whose responsibilities for enforcing breaches of commercial law will be taken over by the new organisation.

Director of the SFO Richard Alderman said, "It would be important to look at the tools the new ECA will need in order to maximise its effectiveness in countering serious economic crime."

The SFO is believed to be pressing for an extension of corporate liability in the UK similar to that of the US so that it would apply to most of a company's employees as well as its senior executives.

Heavier fines, longer jail sentences, deferred prosecutions and a new enforcement system to counter international white collar crime are among other proposals likely to be put forward.

Corporate lawyers will be looking carefully at the proposed legislation to see how it will impact on aspects such as hospitality for clients and if it reflects Lord Justice Thomas' remarks when sentencing in the Innospec bribery case that the penalty options open to him were "wholly inadequate" when fining the company $12.7m. Chemicals company Innospec has UK plants near Manchester at Widnes and Ellesmere Port.

Family lawyers seek law reform on cohabitation rights

2010-08-11T14:41:00.000+01:00

The Law Society Gazette reports that family lawyers are seeing an "explosion" in the number of cohabiting couples seeking legal advice after relationship breakdown and this has seen renewed calls for the "complex" law surrounding such splits to be reviewed and updated.

According to one solicitor, whose London firm has seen a 15% rise in the number of cohabitation breakdown cases in the last three months, the rise is attributable to the fact that fewer couples are getting married, and the impact of the recession.

Couples who have lived together for some years in a home owned by only one of the partners may find they need to sell the home to release capital once the relationship breaks down. However, law relating to the apportioning of assets between cohabitees is complex.

Gianna Lisiecki, family lawyer at JMW Solicitors in Manchester, said she had witnessed a distinct increase in the number of cohabitation disputes recently.

"People are under financial strain which can place pressure on their relationship and as a consequence causes some relationships to break down," she said.

Family lawyers have said that relying on "ancient" trust laws which are applied when cohabitees separate is outdated, and renewed calls have been made for the introduction of laws similar to those applied in divorce, and in civil partnership dissolution, to ease both emotional fallout and the inequitable financial burden placed upon certain parties when cohabitees split up.

Casualty figures at speed camera sites misleading

2010-08-11T11:32:00.000+01:00

A Department for Transport (DfT) report says that there is what it describes as a ‘lack of clarity' over the way statistics relating to casualty figures at speed camera sites are compiled.

The report by two academics concluded that the previous published data showing that changes in the number of people killed and seriously injured as a result of the installation of speed cameras was inaccurate.

Official figures which stated reductions of 42% in the victims of road traffic accidents since 2005 have now been revealed as over-stating the trend. The researchers said this percentage should have been nearer half that number.

The inaccuracies are said to have occurred for a variety of reasons. These include overall improvements in road safety, measures introduced at accident black spots and statistical anomalies.

Police methods of recording the severity of injuries to casualties have also been questioned. Not all injuries are reported to officers, some are reported subsequently and people with medical training have different ways of classifying them.

A spokesman for the group Safe Speed said, "We are concerned that the figures were being used to justify the speed camera programme. The statistics are not telling the whole story.

"The figures for the number of people being seriously injured are completely unreliable because the Department for Transport has no idea of the true picture."

Road safety group Brake said that use of cameras where motorists were speeding was justified but it would like a more comprehensive way of recording numbers of seriously-injured drivers, passengers and other road users. There was no dispute about the number of fatalities on UK roads.

Wealthy Williams weds, but not before signing a prenuptial agreement

2010-08-10T11:36:00.001+01:00

Robbie Williams, 36, former member of pop band Take That and hugely successful solo artist, has finally become a married man. He wed his actress girlfriend Ayda Field, 31, on 7th August 2010, but not before securing his financial status by asking his bride-to-be to sign a prenuptial agreement.

Reports suggest that the prenuptial agreement has established a maximum amount of money she would be able to claim in a divorce financial settlement should the marriage break down.

Williams and Field are said to have visited family law lawyers in Los Angeles in the month prior to the wedding to settle terms of the prenuptial agreement as the pop star is said to be worth around £80 million and was named on the Sunday Times Music Rich List as the 28th wealthiest person in 2010.

Williams is reported to own several properties including two in Los Angeles and an £8.5 million mansion in Wiltshire.

His other assets include £250,000 of shares in football team Port Vale, a yacht worth over £9 million, and cars, motorbikes and a luxury motorhome valued together at over £850,000.

He is also expected to earn a share of the estimated £75 million earnings due from the reforming of Take That later this year.

It seems that Mr Williams is following a marriage trend as a recent report published in The Guardian suggested that men under the age of 45 earning over £100,000 a year are three times more likely to request a prenuptial agreement than those aged over 45.

Hospital's misdiagnosis of spinal abscess led to man's paralysis

2010-08-06T11:04:00.000+01:00

Misdiagnosis of a man's spinal abscess, which was not treated urgently and resulted in him becoming paralysed, has been recognised by the courts with a clinical negligence compensation payment of £825,000.

The former artist and college lecturer went to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, Warwickshire, for treatment for neck and shoulder pain in 2003 and was told he was suffering from a pulled muscle.

As his condition worsened, he continued to complain to staff but it was only five days later when he was transferred to another hospital and underwent an MRI scan that the correct diagnosis was made.

It was found he had an abscess pressing on his spinal cord, which was drained in an emergency operation, but by then it was too late to effectively treat him and he became tetrapelgic, suffering permanent paralysis in all his limbs.

His lawyer said, "An MRI scan should have been performed at Russells Hall Hospital which would have revealed the spinal epidural abscess. Emergency surgery could then have been performed earlier before the permanent neurological damage was caused."

In a statement, the victim urged others not to be complacent when seeking help from the NHS. Everyone should be vigilant when an in-patient and family and friends should be prepared to complain and complain again loud and clear if they had any concerns.

After an out-of-court settlement of the medical negligence case was made by The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust, a spokesman expressed regret for the misdiagnosis and said there were lessons to be learned from the incident.

Supervisors of learners must avoid using a mobile phone

2010-08-06T11:01:00.000+01:00

Drivers, who use a mobile phone, have been drinking alcohol or fall asleep in the front passenger seat while supposedly supervising a learner, are committing a motoring offence and risk fines, disqualification or prison.

According to a survey of 19,000 Automobile Association (AA) members, many are ignorant of the law which states the supervisor must be in effective control of the car and subject to the same strictures of motoring law as if they were driving themselves, such as keeping below the drink-driving limit.

This includes 23% who did not know it was illegal to use a mobile phone, 13% unaware that if the supervisor wears glasses to drive they must also wear them to accompany a learner and 9% who did not realise falling asleep also came into this category.

A total of 4% of those replying to the survey said they had broken at least one of those laws while for supervisors aged between 21 and 24 that figure went up to 22%.

President of the AA Edmund King said the legal point was quite serious.

"There has been a case where, tragically, the learner driver had a crash, two people died and the supervisor was deemed responsible and went to jail."

To reduce the likelihood of such a motoring offence occurring, especially with younger supervisors, the road safety charity Brake has suggested raising the age for those able to be responsible for a learner from 21 to 25.

Hospital's negligence in giving wrong drugs led to mother's death

2010-08-05T16:27:00.000+01:00

A hospital trust, whose negligence in storing drugs led to a mother's death after she was given an anaesthetic instead of a saline solution, was ordered by a court to pay a total of £100,000 in fines and costs.

Lawyers at Bristol Crown Court said that the mix-up occurred because of ‘almost identical packaging' of the two medical products which were stored near each other in a cupboard.

A midwife had picked up a bag of the epidural drug Bupivacaine for use in an intravenous drip instead of the saline intended to increase the 30-year-old mother's blood pressure after she gave birth. As a result of the error, she died from a heart attack two hours later.

In the first case of its kind, an inquest in 2008 decided she had been unlawfully killed by the actions of the Great Western Hospitals Foundation Trust. The subsequent prosecution in May 2010 for negligence was brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Prosecution of the nurse concerned, who has since retired, has not been pursued.

The HSE said that patient safety had been put at risk by the lack of suitable storage systems at the hospital and the trust was charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act with breaching its general duty.

Among other incidents, a similar mistake in 2001 in Brighton, but which did not result in death of the patient, led to a national warning being issued about the possible dangers of confusion between the two products.

At the trial, a solicitor speaking on behalf of the trust, which admitted the charge at its Swindon hospital, said its attitude was far from "cavalier or lethargic", a fact illustrated by its two health and safety awards between 2005 and 2006.

With more than one million infusions being carried out annually, a "blind spot" would arise from time to time, he added.

After the hearing, chief executive of the Great Western Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Lynn Hill-Tout said changes had been made to storage systems to ensure such a drug error and potential for medical negligence could not be repeated.

Government action urged on costs of clinical negligence cases

2010-08-05T09:50:00.000+01:00

The organisation which represents most UK doctors, dentists and other health professionals in clinical negligence cases is calling for measures to halt what it calls "excessive legal costs".

The Medical Protection Society (MPS), commenting on the NHS Litigation Authority's annual accounts for 2010, said there should be changes in the way cases are handled, particularly in relation to the increasing legal costs which contributed a large part of the £15billion being set aside for compensation claims this year.

In the past year, the MPS has made its four highest-ever personal injury negligence claims, two of which involved actions against GPs.

It suggests the Government should make changes to the current system by speeding up the settlement of claims, limiting the amount of legal costs recovered to a proportionate basis and losing defendants not having to pay success fees to the other party.

Chief Executive of the MPS Tony Mason said, "Increased life expectancy and the cost of care packages are significant factors, but so, too, are high legal costs.

"Every year we have seen a significant increase in legal costs. It is not unusual for claimant legal costs to exceed compensation payouts in clinical negligence cases."

He added that patients did deserve fair compensation.

Settling debate on Hildebrand rules in divorce settlements

2010-08-04T11:06:00.000+01:00

A Court of Appeal ruling in a high profile divorce settlement is set to halt the use of secretly obtained documents as evidence to prove that a spouse is hiding information about assets.

The case focused on the divorce settlement of former Del Monte chief Vivian Imerman and his ex-wife Lisa Tchenguiz, and the fact that Ms Tchenguiz's brothers, who shared Mayfair offices with Mr Imerman, took a large number of confidential documents and email attachments from his password protected computer to use as evidence of his financial status.

When it was ruled that the brothers had no right to retain the documents for use in the case, the Tchenguiz brothers and other parties appealed the decision. The Court of Appeal upheld the original ruling.

Britain had gained a reputation as a jurisdiction where wives are protected in such cases and are likely to get lucrative settlements upon divorce.

In past cases, Hildebrand rules had been applied where wives had been able to procure documents which were not concealed or perhaps left lying around; however as technology has advanced, and more evidence is now stored on computers and hard drives, divorce solicitors felt that a clarification of Hildebrand was required.

Lord Neuburger, Master of the Rolls, ruled that "nothing in the [rules] can be relied upon in justification of, or as providing a defence to, conduct which would otherwise be criminal or actionable".

He added, "More particularly it follows that neither the wives who purloin their husband's confidential documents nor the professional advisers who receive them (or copies of them) can plead the so-called Hildebrand rules in answer to a claim for relief."

The Financial Times said that family lawyers saw the judgement as revolutionary in high value divorce settlements, "giving wealthy men freedom to hide assets from their spouse and causing women to fight dirtier to stop their husbands concealing money".

Motorcyclist on high-powered bike was driving without insurance

2010-08-04T10:57:00.000+01:00

A motorcyclist who drove at 150mph in traffic and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving also admitted driving without insurance because he was licensed and insured only to drive motorbikes with engines up to 125cc but he was on a Kawasaki ZX636 with a 106bhp engine when he committed the motoring offences.

A police officer, who was operating a speed check on the A38 when he heard the approach of the Plymouth man's bike, told the city's crown court he was so startled by its noise he dropped the Lastec LTi 20-20 speed gun he was using.

When the constable picked it up, the machine registered the bike's speed as it avoided other vehicles on the road at 148.6mph, which was the highest the policeman had recorded in 12 years as a traffic officer.

The lawyer for the motorcyclist said his client, who was 19 at the time of the incident, was a hard-working young man who commuted to Birmingham to work as a trainee mechanic but would lose his job as a consequence of the court case. He was in financial difficulties and the £4,000 bike had since been written off.

Sentencing him to 23 weeks in jail, suspended for two years, Judge Francis Gilbert QC said, "It was extremely dangerous, and it is a miracle neither you nor anyone else was seriously injured."

Further punishments imposed were a two-year driving disqualification with an order to take an extended test before the return of the man's licence and 200 hours of community work.

No evidence was offered by the prosecution on other motoring offences of speeding and driving while uninsured.

Introduction of corporate law on bribery delayed to April 2011

2010-08-03T09:47:00.000+01:00

A delay in the implementation of the new corporate law on bribery means businesses have until April 2011 to make any necessary changes to their compliance regimes before the Act comes into force.

The legislation, which is intended to halt corruption in commercial transactions and works in tandem with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 for businesses which come under those rules, was due to be enacted by October 2010 but the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has decided to allow longer for official consultation procedures.

Guidance on the new law is likely to be published in early 2011 and, similarly to the money laundering rules, the only defence for a business against the corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery will be that it has to show it has adequate procedures in place to prevent such bribery.

In order to comply, companies are likely to need to make provision for setting out the firm's policy on corruption, having a board-level appointee with responsibility and a senior officer nominated for implementation and supervision of the policy, adequate financial record-keeping and control which minimises the risk of bribery, and training for all staff including whistle-blowing procedures.

According to the MOJ, the Bribery Act will:

provide a more effective legal framework to combat bribery in the public or private sectors

replace the fragmented and complex offences at common law and in the Prevention of Corruption Acts 1889-1916

create two general offences covering the offering, promising or giving of an advantage, and requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting of an advantage

create a discrete offence of bribery of a foreign public official

create a new offence of failure by a commercial organisation to prevent a bribe being paid for or on its behalf

require the Secretary of State to publish guidance about procedures that relevant commercial organisations can put in place to prevent bribery on their behalf

help tackle the threat that bribery poses to economic progress and development around the world

Commercial solicitors who draft contracts are among those who will need to make their sure they and their employers or clients abide by the new corporate law.

High Court backs ex-director's rights over conflict of interest

2010-08-01T16:06:00.000+01:00

A High Court commercial law case has supported an ex-director who was sued by his former company, which wanted to prevent him from using information it said was confidential and obtained while he was working there in his new business, with the judge saying it was in the public interest for him to continue.

The case involved a thermal engineer who worked on energy surveys of buildings and became both an employee of a company based in Bedfordshire then also a director from 1997 until he resigned in 2008 and joined another business.

He was made redundant by that firm in March 2009 and set up his own company in the same field of expertise but was accused by the original company of which he had been a director of using confidential information he had obtained while working there and so had breached conflict of interest regulations when contacting potential clients.

It was the first reported case brought under The Companies Act 2006 sections 175 and 170, which define a director's ability to exploit any property, information or opportunity of which he becomes aware at the time he is a director.

Restrictive covenants in the man's contract of employment had come to an end by the time he went into business on his own and the court said that, although he had some limited duties regarding his former directorship, there was no definite bar on the engineer canvassing work from clients of this original company.

Judge David Donaldson QC said the balance of prejudice caused by his action had moved in favour of the man and away from the company because of the public interest in competition.

Company lawyers who have analysed the case say the outcome probably would have been different if genuine trade secrets had been involved rather than knowledge acquired through skills and experience and if the man had resigned in order to make use of specific business opportunities which he known of through his former directorship.

Corporate law fails to acknowledge human rights, says UN

2010-07-29T16:02:00.000+01:00

The first report on how corporate law acknowledges human rights, commissioned by the United Nations (UN) and contributed to by senior lawyers world-wide, has found only limited recognition of the principles in the commercial field.

Twenty leading commercial law firms from 40 countries, including UK-based Clifford Chance and Linklaters, contributed to research by the special representative of the UN secretary-general on business and human rights, Professor John Ruggie.

In his report, he said there was ‘limited to non-existent' co-ordination between corporate regulators and government agencies which had responsibility for protecting human rights, and a lack of clarity in corporate and securities law regarding what companies are required and permitted to do.

He said company directors do not often have to consider the human rights of non-shareholders and, although many companies have corporate social responsibility agendas or guidelines, actual reference to human rights is rare.

Few company boards require specific gender or race representatives among directors and company formation laws do not ask commercial concerns to agree they have a duty to society in general.

The project is part of the UN Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework for business and human rights.

Victim speaking on phone was partly to blame for her own death

2010-07-28T16:22:00.000+01:00

A London judge decided the pedestrian victim of a car accident was partly to blame for her own death, because she was talking on her mobile phone at the time, and the man who was convicted of causing her death by careless or inconsiderate driving was given a suspended prison sentence.

Snaresbrook Crown Court was told that the victim, a 23-year-old trainee barrister, stepped onto a pedestrian crossing when the green man was still flashing and was in a collision with a Ford Ka, being driven at 37mph within a 30mph limit.

During the eight-day trial, a witness said the victim had been using her phone as she crossed the road. The 25-year-old car driver said he had not been able to sound his horn to warn her because it did not work.

Judge Alan Pardoe said the woman had stepped into the road without looking to her left and that, if she had, she would have seen the car very clearly.

"There's evidence from a bystander that at the time of entering the carriageway, she was speaking on her mobile phone."

Despite being convicted of the motoring offence of causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving, the driver was given a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, disqualified from driving for a year and ordered to carry out 250 hours of community service.

Earl Spencer sues his divorce solicitor after paying more in his financial settlement

2010-07-28T15:56:00.000+01:00

Earl Spencer, Lady Diana's brother, is suing his divorce solicitor after claiming that his family law legal team did not warn him of critical changes to divorce law as he underwent his marriage dissolution.

He claims that if he had been told earlier of the change which meant his divorce financial settlement would not be held in private, that he would have negotiated an out-of-court settlement using a different strategy.

It is alleged that in order to avoid the public gaze he was forced to pay his ex-wife an extra £1 million.

When the divorce settlement case commenced Lord Spencer is reported to have said it was of the "utmost importance" that certain aspects of the case were kept private; however, Mr Justice Munby ruled that the case did not need to be heard in private.

The writ issued against Lord Spencer's divorce lawyer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn who is now a judge as well, was revealed in the Daily Mail.

The writ reads, "The germ of this seems clearly to be that the learned Judge was swayed by an undue or unwarranted predilection, for inappropriate reasons, towards allowing Press access, rather than, presumably, an objective and proper application to the facts of the new rules."

The Daily Mail also revealed the contents of emails, cited in the writ, which were sent between Sir Nicholas and the Earl and contained revelations by the barrister that he had named seven piglets born on his farm, after Lord Justice Munby – the names included "self-regarding", "pompous", and "publicity seeking".

Lord Spencer believed his divorce settlement would have been around £4.5 million, but alleges the divorce solicitor's negligence saw that figure rise to £5.65 million.

Divorce papers cause a defamation lawsuit in India

2010-07-27T13:16:00.000+01:00

The case of an Indian woman accused of defamation serves as a stark reminder to divorce lawyers and petitioners that the contents of a petition could get the parties to the divorce into trouble.

The woman alleged in her divorce papers that her husband, whom she married nine years ago but separated from after only three months, was impotent.

The Indian family law court allowed the divorce to go ahead and duly dissolved the marriage, but the ex-husband was enraged by the accusation and began a defamation lawsuit against his former wife.

He alleged that the accusation of impotence had "rendered him unmarriageable (sic) and sullied his prestige".

A Madhya Pradesh state court has now ordered the woman to pay her estranged husband 200,000 rupees (£2,747) in compensation, a sum much higher than most Indians will earn in a year.

Following this case divorce lawyers should remind their clients that UK divorce petitions can be reported upon in the press and their contents are unlikely to remain private if the cause of marital breakdown could be seen to be of public interest.

Deadline for potential surgery clinical negligence claimants in Liverpool

2010-07-23T11:10:00.000+01:00

Women who may have suffered medical negligence through the actions of an uro-gynaecologist surgeon working in Liverpool between 1993 and 2008 are being urged to come forward before September to make a possible compensation claim.

One personal injury specialist solicitor already has details of 300 women who feel they were mis-treated by George Rowland, who was suspended by Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust in 2008 and is not allowed to undertake operations, after complaints emerged about him performing incorrect surgery, doing it badly and neglecting after-care.

Mr Rowland mainly worked at the Aintree Centre for Women's Health and treated women suffering from incontinence. He was also employed at Aintree and Fazackerley hospitals and Liverpool Women's Hospital.

Initial concerns about his work were raised in 2004 but was not until April 2009 the hospital began reviewing his cases and recalling patients.

The General Medical Council (GMC), which investigated the surgeon's performance, said it had concerns over misdiagnosis and inappropriate procedures, resulting in women suffering continuing symptoms and some undergoing unnecessarily complicated operations.

As part of an agreement drawn up to handle compensation claims resulting from Mr Rowland's actions, an extension to the usual three-year legal limit to start a damages action after an incident has been agreed and any patient treated by him has until September 3 to file a potential medical negligence claim.

Bus driver caused passenger's death by dangerous driving

2010-07-22T12:18:00.000+01:00

A bus driver, who caused the death by dangerous driving of a passenger who was thrown through the front window of his vehicle in a crash, has been jailed for four years for the motoring offence which resulted from him driving through a red traffic light in the double-decker.

The driver, a French national, fled from the UK after a magistrates' court hearing at Croydon in May 2009 and subsequent trial at the crown court where was found guilty in his absence.

The courts had been told that the crash occurred in the Surrey town in September 2008 when the bus collided with a tram and a BMW car as a result of the driver's actions. As well as the man who died, six other passengers were injured.

Following his initial conviction, the Metropolitan Police and French authorities began searching for the driver who was eventually tracked to Lyon and an extradition order obtained for him.

Despite his lawyer's appeal against the deportation, the bus driver was returned to the UK and, after a review of the evidence by a jury at Croydon Crown Court, the sentence was imposed for causing death by dangerous driving which included an additional four months' jail because of the man absconding.

Russian couple's divorce financial settlement could be most expensive ever

2010-07-22T11:18:00.000+01:00

The prospective divorce financial settlement of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky and his estranged second wife could prove to be the most expensive in UK family law, according to The Telegraph. The current highest settlement award made in a British court was to Beverly Charman when her former husband, insurance millionaire John Charman, was ordered to pay her £48 million in 2006.

It has been reported that Galina Berezovsky is claiming a quarter of the exiled businessman's fortune, estimated to be close to £1 billion. However, that figure has since been revised, but The Telegraph still expects Mrs Berezovsky to leave the marriage with "anything up to £100 million".

Having built up his fortune during the Yeltsin presidency as a result of the notorious sell-off of state assets for greatly reduced sums, Mr Berezovsky was granted political asylum in Great Britain in 2003 following accusations of his defrauding a regional Russian government. He strongly denies any involvement in the crimes and violence which were rife during this period of Russian business development, and calls for his extradition, so that he may stand trial over numerous alleged crimes in Russia, have been refused.

Mr and Mrs Berezovsky's marriage of 18 years has also been troubled - they separated three years after their wedding in 1981 – and while Mrs Berezovsky, 51, lives with the couple's two children in London, her husband lives in Surrey. The multi-millionaire also has two children from his first marriage and a further two children with his girlfriend of 15 years, Yelena Gorbunova.

Mrs Berezovsky has reportedly become exasperated by hearing Miss Gorbunova referred to as Mr Berezovsky's "wife" and commenced divorce proceedings by hiring a team of London divorce lawyers.

The divorce, being heard in the High Court, is not being contested by Mr Berezovsky and a spokesman has said that he is currently negotiating a divorce financial settlement with his soon-to-be ex-wife.

Distance selling law clarification affects online and mail order businesses

2010-07-21T12:15:00.000+01:00

Businesses selling goods through mail order, telephone sales and over the internet are consulting corporate solicitors about an aspect of commercial law, the Distance Selling Directive, of which major retailer Next has been in breach.

An investigation by the BBC found that a number of national companies were not abiding by Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations, which became law on August 31 2000. This law states that in any transaction where the customer and seller are not face to face and the customer decides to cancel within seven days the customer does not have to pay the original delivery charge billed by the seller.

Next was among the businesses where online buyers were able to claim a refund of postal fees only if the returned goods were faulty not for a cancellation for any other reason, including the customer just changing their mind, ignoring the distance selling rules.

Since the BBC brought the failure to comply with commercial law to the attention of the clothing, accessories and homewares company, after consultation with its lawyers, it has said it will make sure the rules are implemented from August.

A spokesman for Next said, ''During the last three years, Next has not offered a refund of the delivery charge.

"This was in line with our interpretation of the Distance Selling Directive. However following clarification from the European Court of Justice in April this year on interpretation of the Directive, Next is in the process of implementing the necessary changes to ensure that delivery charges will be refunded."

The goods do not have to be returned within the statutory seven working days of receipt but the seller must be notified of the intention by the customer to do so in that period.

That notice can be sent in writing to the last known address of the seller or faxing or emailing to the last fax number or email address known to the customer. In all cases the seven days begin on the day the notice is sent.

The customer does not have to give a reason for wishing to cancel but a telephone call will not be sufficient to meet the requirements of the law for giving notice.

The Distance Selling law does not cover the cost of returning the unwanted items, only the charge for postage which was paid with the original order. It does not include perishable items, personalised or custom-made products, magazines and unwrapped CDs.

Trading standards officers have said businesses and consumers can ask for guidance on all aspects of commercial law affecting consumers.

Double misdiagnosis leads to clinical negligence payout

2010-07-20T11:14:00.000+01:00

A hospital's double misdiagnosis and subsequent wrong treatment for MRSA and leukaemia, neither of which a patient had, has led to the victim being awarded £175,000 in clinical negligence compensation.

The 46-year-old man first went to Basildon Hospital in Essex with an infected wound, which doctors said was caused by MRSA. At the hospital he was treated with the drug Linezolid, a specific antidote to the bacteria.

Five days later he returned to the hospital when he was suffering from severe anaemia, soft tissue swelling and a low haemoglobin count and was then told he was suffering from leukaemia and had only a year to live.

However, both diagnoses were a result of doctors' errors and his second medical condition, peripheral neuropathy, was possibly as a result of the maladministration of Linezolid.

Damage to his central nervous system has affected his arms, legs and left knee and the man is unable to return to his previous work as an engineer because of difficulty climbing ladders. The disablement is likely to be permanent and require further surgery.

He said he suffered psychological injuries because of the misdiagnosis as a result of being told he was dying from leukaemia.

A statement by the personal injury solicitor for the victim said: "The claimant alleged negligence in prescribing Linezolid as he did not have MRSA, and for failing to monitor blood results weekly in accordance with national guidelines."

A spokewoman for Basildon and Thurrock NHS Trust, which admitted liability for the clinical negligence, said it was inappropriate to comment following the out of court compensation settlement.

Strongman who crashed car while disqualified and uninsured is jailed

2010-07-20T11:07:00.000+01:00

An eight-month prison sentence and two-year disqualification for a series of motoring offences was imposed on a 21-year-old driver who lost control of his car and crashed on a sharp bend while trying to escape police.

He admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, having no insurance and being in breach of an earlier suspended sentence.
At Mold Crown Court, Judge Niclas Parry said that, although it could have been a lot worse, the aggravating features of the case were that the driver was disqualified, was driving uninsured, had a passenger and crashed his BMW 528i.

He told the defendant, "All this happened 13 days after you received a suspended sentence for earlier offences."

The driver's solicitor said his client held the title of second strongest man in Wales and had ambitions to become the world's strongest man. A prison sentence would prevent him from entering important competitions.

He said the strongman admitted he had driven stupidly on the day concerned and had panicked because of his previous conviction for motoring offences.

Scots look at clinical negligence compensation law changes

2010-07-16T09:02:00.000+01:00

The Scottish government is consulting on how the current law and compensation arrangements for deaths caused by clinical negligence, industrial disease, work-related accidents and road crashes can be modernised.

Ministers are collating information up until August 27 and will then examine how the 34-year-old legislation can be improved.

One aspect for change which already has been proposed is that a spouse's income should be disregarded when the courts calculate the size of payment to which a victim of personal injury can be entitled.

Simplifying the law on "wrongful deaths" has been sparked by an Act which was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2007, Rights of Relatives to Damages (Mesothelioma) (Scotland) 2007, which is aimed at providing recompense for the relatives of workers who have died from mesothelioma.

It is estimated that thousands of Scottish shipyard employees either have contracted the asbestos-related disease or will suffer from it later.

Community Safety Manager Fergus Ewing said the aim was to help victims and their relatives to have appropriate rights without unnecessary difficulty to achieve proper recompense for personal injury and wrongful death in circumstances such as industrial illness, accidents and clinical negligence.

Name mix-up with actor results in speeding let-off for explorer

2010-07-15T12:20:00.000+01:00

Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has not been prosecuted for an alleged speeding offence in Northwich, Cheshire, because the Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) was not addressed to him but to actor Ralph Fiennes, who is a distant cousin.

This is the second time Sir Ranulph, who is the oldest person to have climbed Everest and participated in many other adventurous treks, has had a motoring offence allegation against him dropped when his identification details have been recorded incorrectly.

A speed camera in Northwich apparently showed he was driving a hire car at 50mph within a 40mph limit in October 2009 but a NIP was sent to the wrong address and naming him as Ralph. A reminder was also sent there in the same name. Sir Ranulph was then charged with the more serious driving offence of failing to furnish details about a driver but that, too, was sent to the wrong place and addressed to Ranulph Feinnes.

His solicitor, who persuaded the Crown Prosecution Service to drop the case because of the identity mix-up, was also able to reclaim his client's legal expenses.

In a similar alleged speeding case in November 2008, in Shropshire, Sir Ranulph was again able to avoid prosecution when his name was variously spelt Ran Flenns and Ran Fiennes rather than his full forename.

Motorcyclist who caused death by careless driving stays in jail

2010-07-15T08:58:00.000+01:00

A motorcyclist's prison term for causing his best friend's death by careless driving will remain at its original length after the man's lawyers failed to convince the Court of Appeal to reduce it.

The crown court hearing into the case against the 32-year-old Stoke-on-Trent man heard he had a blood-alcohol level of 162 mg and traces of cocaine in his system when he was tested after the crash in August 2008.

The two men had been drinking and, despite pleas by the victim's partner not to drive, they did so but the pillion passenger fell off the bike into the path of a lorry and a car.

The motorcyclist, who had been convicted of drink-driving only three weeks before the fatal crash, lost control of the machine and suffered serious injuries himself.

He used his injuries as one of the reasons for bringing the appeal, coupled with the personal difficulties his imprisonment caused his family and because the victim had been his best friend.

He had also been given a seven-year driving disqualification for the motoring offences.

However, Mr Justice Tomlinson, who was sitting with Lord Justice Leveson and Mr Justice Davis at the Court of Appeal, did not accept his legal team's argument and said, "The conduct was, on any show, an extremely serious and grave instance of causing death by careless driving.

"There can be no reasonably arguable suggestion that a sentence of four-and-a-half years' imprisonment for a person with this record of the commission of highly relevant offences is even arguably manifestly excessive."

Judge slams slender connections in divorce financial settlement claims

2010-07-14T17:09:00.000+01:00

The bitter divorce financial settlement battle between two Russian nationals which is being conducted presently in London's family law courts has prompted Lord Justice Thorpe to criticise parties with "slender connection" to the UK who put disproportionate demands on the family justice system.

Speaking amidst the hearing of Ilya Golubovich's appeal case regarding whether his divorce which had been granted in Moscow but ruled invalid by a UK family law judge in March should stand, the judge said:

"I question whether there should not be a more stringent allocation of judicial time to cases such as this where the parties have a slender connection with our jurisdiction and where the extent of their financial resources permits disproportionate demands on our family justice system."

The Golubovichs married in 2007 and both live in London. They have a two year old daughter. When the marriage broke down in 2009, Elena Golubovich, 26, filed the initial divorce petition in London.

However, Mr Golubovich, who is the son of one of Russia's wealthiest couples, obtained a divorce decree from Moscow courts, but this was dismissed in the UK. The London Court of Appeal has now overturned that ruling.

Lord Justice Thorpe said that while the wife's preference for a divorce financial settlement under English and Welsh family law was unarticulated but obvious, the husband's unarticulated preference for a Moscow divorce was equally obvious.

He added, "Each thoroughly understood that whichever jurisdiction dissolved the marriage would then decide the ancillary relief claims according to its internal law and practice."

Mrs Golubovich's divorce solicitor stated that under Russian divorce financial settlement practices her client was likely to be left "penniless", while her ex-husband would be left to "continue his jet-set millionaire's lifestyle".

Solicitors wait patiently for family law reform in Manchester and throughout the UK

2010-07-13T09:04:00.000+01:00

Family law solicitors in Manchester, London and throughout the UK have been eagerly awaiting the Supreme Court ruling on the Katrina Radmacher v Nicolas Granatino case which has been primarily concerned with the details of the couple's pre-nuptial agreement and how it was interpreted in their divorce financial settlement.

Currently, pre-nuptial agreements are not enforceable in England and Wales, and the case of the German heiress and her former banker husband, who was awarded £6 million of her fortune despite having signed a pre-nup stating he would not make a claim on her wealth should the couple divorce, has been pivotal in calls for family law reform to reflect the effectiveness of well crafted pre-marriage agreements.

The Law Commission has been preparing a consultation paper to propose a number of plans to make pre- and post-marriage contracts legally binding in English and Welsh law. However, the set of "best-practice guidelines" will take into account the views of the nine Supreme Court judges hearing Radmacher v Granatino, so it will not be published until their ruling is made.

The Law Commissioner in charge of family law, Professor Elizabeth Cooke, told The Sunday Telegraph, "There is a certain amount of financial carnage when people get divorced. A well drawn up pre-nup can give greater predictability.

"There is nothing that will take away the general pain of divorce but it may be that pre-nups can go some way to making things more certain."

The Supreme Court's ruling had been hoped for before the end of July.

When the ruling is returned the final Law Commission report will be submitted to Government with an accompanying draft bill to be considered for approval as new family law. Solicitors in Manchester, London and elsewhere will then discover what has been formally proposed.

Obstetrics expert to head scan misdiagnosis inquiry

2010-07-09T12:25:00.000+01:00

A leading UK obstetrician is to inquire into the misdiagnosis and potential clinical negligence cases of Irish mothers whose ultrasonic scans were misinterpreted.

Earlier this year it was revealed that a number of mothers in the Dublin area had been advised their foetuses had died in the womb and were prescribed a drug to induce miscarriage as a result of the scan examination errors.

However, the women had been unsure about the diagnosis and sought second opinions, leading to the subsequent discovery of their children being alive and later delivered as healthy babies.

After the experience of the first mothers was revealed in the press, others came forward with similar stories.

The Irish Health Service Executive has asked the Vice-President of the Royal College of Obstetrics, Professor William Ledger, to chair a review spanning the last five years.

His team will be asked to take six months in looking at all the known cases where a misdiagnosis of miscarriage was made in Ireland's maternity units and mothers were advised to undergo drug or surgical terminations of the pregnancy but where the foetus was found to be healthy on re-examination.

Speed camera £87m total not linked to casualty fall, say groups

2010-07-08T12:18:00.000+01:00

Figures revealed by two campaigning groups show that more than £65m was collected in fixed penalty payments from motorists in England and Wales in 2008-09 after they were caught on speed cameras.

With court fines imposed by magistrates' courts for other motoring offences such as failing to comply with lane directions or other speeding, the total rises to £87,368,227.

Separately, Scottish courts took in £1,641,630 from speeding drivers and fixed penalties netted £763,153 in Northern Ireland.

The new statistics were gathered by the TaxPayers' Alliance and the Drivers' Alliance which said that numbers of deaths and serious injuries on the roads had not decreased at a rate commensurate with the increased use of speed cameras.

The groups said it was estimated that 1,555,244 more road casualties occurred between 1991 and 2007 than would have if the 1978-1990 casualty trend had continued.

TaxPayers' Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliott said the report showed the state was making a fortune from the cameras but, if anything, the rate of reduction in casualty numbers had slowed.

"Motorists have long suspected that speed cameras are more about raising money than keeping the roads safe."

He suggested the whole of the UK should follow the example of Swindon and end the use of speed cameras and fixed penalty fines.

Healthy outlook as firm rejects £800m private equity buyout bid

2010-07-08T12:14:00.000+01:00

One of the largest independent care providers in the UK, Wilmslow-based Four Seasons Health Care, is believed to have rejected an £800m buyout bid by private equity firm Advent International.

Four Seasons, which employs more than 21,000 staff at its 420 nursing and care homes, declared 2009 pre-tax profits of £100.8m on turnover of £485.9m, a rise of 5.2%.

In December 2009, the Royal Bank of Scotland acquired 38% of the firm's shares in a corporate finance move which reduced its debts to £790m from £1.8bn.

The company is now said to be examining options for maintaining its investment base when its remaining debt matures in September.

A spokesman was quoted in the Manchester Evening News that the board believed its strategy was the best for all its stakeholders and would be seeking a two-year renewal of its debt arrangements.

A number of other private equity firms have expressed an interest in taking a stake in Four Seasons since early 2009 but they have not met the board's expectations of the commercial value of the business.

Clinical negligence compensation after man's brain scan misdiagnosis

2010-07-07T12:22:00.000+01:00

Continuing compensation payments for the clinical negligence suffered by a taxi driver, who was left seriously disabled after misdiagnosis of a scan in 2003, have been agreed at the High Court in London.

The man, then aged 50, was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow, Essex, after being stabbed in the neck by a customer. Although he had a scan, a doctor's error meant a leaking blood vessel in his brain was not recognised and treated, resulting in him suffering a heart attack and consequent disablement.

With his brain injury having made him completely dependent on others for his care, the man's daughter brought the damages case on his behalf against the hospital's NHS trust.

Mr Justice Burnett said, "It is obvious that the consequences of the stabbing and the failures in medical care which followed had an absolutely devastating effect upon his life and on the lives of all those close to him."

The trust, which admitted liability and has apologised to the driver and his family for failings in his care, has made changes to its systems to avoid similar instances of clinical negligence. A lump sum settlement of £850,000 was agreed with further index-linked periodic payments.

Woods buys divorce settlement silence

2010-07-06T12:16:00.000+01:00

Details of the divorce financial settlement agreement between golfing superstar Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, his wife of five and a half years, have been speculated upon in the press, but the potential size of the settlement, believed to be around $100 million (£65 million), may well reflect the price of the silence more than an equitable split of marital assets.

It is understood that Woods has insisted on a confidentiality clause in the divorce agreement in an attempt to stifle any exposé Nordegren might be tempted to make regarding life with him during the time of his much reported extramarital activity.

A source used by The Telegraph suggests that the settlement, which is way above the amount said to have been stipulated by the couple's prenuptial agreement, has been brokered in order to save Woods further embarrassment and as an exercise in career damage limitations for the professional sportsman.

"Tiger Woods' soon-to-be ex-wife is about to become an independently wealthy woman, but we've learned she's legally prohibited from blabbing about it," the source commented.

"So Elin can't go on 'Oprah' [The Oprah Winfrey Show], she can't do interviews, she can't write a book. But what she gets in return is nothing to sneeze at. Elin will snag about $100 million in the settlement."

It is expected that the minutiae of the divorce financial settlement will never be made public as one of Woods' divorce lawyers is an acknowledged expert in family law and child issues, who has acted for other celebrities and been successful in keeping their settlement details out of the press.

AIM pioneer may seek Far East stock market listing

2010-07-02T10:13:00.000+01:00

A health club chain, which was the first in its sector to have a listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), is the centre of press reports that it will be seeking a full stock market listing in the Far East.

Although Fitness First started as a single club in Bournemouth, Dorset, in 1993, it now has 160 clubs in the UK, including a number in the Manchester area, with more than 400,000 members throughout the country. However, it has a total of 550 branches worldwide with outlets in Europe, Australia, India and other parts of Asia.

The AIM float in 1996 was the start of its rapid expansion with the corporate finance capital raising allowing it to push into Europe in 1998 and then in 2000 to start its Asian operations.

In 2003 Fitness First was taken into private ownership with Cinven, a UK private equity house as the major shareholder. Two years later, it was acquired by pan-European private equity group BC Partners for £812m and is now the largest health club group in the world.

BC Partners has been active in developing the European buyout market for more than 20 years and among its recent flotations are French care home operator Medica and Spanish travel booking service Amadeus.

Press speculation has priced a stock market listing for Fitness First at more than £1 billion and, possibly, up to £2 billion. Analysts believe that because the business is growing fastest in the Far East a placing in Hong Kong, Singapore or Shanghai early in 2011 may gain a greater response from investors.

Compensation agreed for girl's brain injury caused by operation delay

2010-07-01T10:54:00.000+01:00

Delays in performing a caesarean section which resulted in a girl suffering brain injury have led to an ‘unreserved' apology from an NHS trust and a £2m compensation payment for the clinical negligence.

The girl, who is now six, will also receive £50,000 a year for life to meet her continuing need for 24-hour care due to the cerebral palsy she suffered at Worcestershire Acute Hospital. She is quadriplegic and has further speech and eyesight problems.

The injuries occurred because of errors made by medical staff towards the end of the pregnancy when the girl's mother detected lack of movement by her baby but, although a caesarean operation was scheduled, delays in treatment and carrying out the procedure meant that the child was starved of oxygen.

The barrister for the NHS trust said in court it was only right the girl and her parents were given an unreserved apology.

In 2008 the hospital admitted liability for the clinical negligence but a compensation figure for the disabilities was only agreed in the High Court in June 2010.

Disqualification reduced for teenager who caused death by dangerous driving

2010-06-30T10:56:00.000+01:00

A five-year driving disqualification imposed on a Blackburn teenager who was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving when he lost control of his car, has been reduced to two years on appeal.

The man, who is now aged 19, was also sentenced to 20 months' youth custody following his appearance at Preston Crown Court for the motoring offence, which occurred in Darwen in February 2009, but that punishment was not reduced, despite pleas by his lawyer against its severity.

The court had been told that his back-seat passenger, a 21-year-old woman, who had not been wearing a seatbelt, was thrown out of the rear window of the Peugeot 106 as it crashed into a kerb, through a fence and struck a corner of a bungalow.

The car had been speeding at between 39 and 42 miles an hour in a 30mph limit.

Lord Justice Burnton, sitting with Mrs Justice Dobbs and Judge Michael Pert QC, at the Criminal Appeal Court in London, said the detention period was fully justified in the circumstances but that the driving ban was too long in view of the defendant's age.

He stressed that the decision did not reflect on the seriousness of the offence of causing death by dangerous driving or the consequences for the victim and her family.

The Douglas's divorce lawyers clash over Wall Street 2

2010-06-30T10:01:00.000+01:00

New York divorce lawyers for actor Michael Douglas and his ex-wife have been in Manhattan Supreme Court recently arguing over what constitutes a "spin-off" in the film world and its difference to a "sequel".

In their divorce financial settlement of 2000, Diandra Douglas stipulated a clause which entitles her to half of any royalties or salary earned by Mr Douglas from spin-offs of movies he made while they were husband and wife.

She now claims that, as the original Wall Street movie was made in 1987 while they were married, she should now be due funds from Douglas's reprisal of the role Gordon Gekko in the upcoming Wall Street 2.

Lawyers for the couple have been embroiled in arguments over the film and it its relevance to the divorce financial settlement, the New York Post reports.

Justice Matthew Cooper heard from Diandra's divorce solicitor that the clause should stand as the new movie is a spin-off. "It's the same character, the same title, just years later," she told the judge.

While Mr Douglas's legal team argued that the new film was not a spin-off, but was a sequel, thereby negating the clause in the divorce agreement.

The divorce lawyers also argued about whether New York was the correct jurisdiction for the lawsuit and Justice Cooper consequently told the divorce lawyers he would not rule on the case until it is decided whether it should be heard in Manhattan or Santa Barbara, California where the original divorce was finalised.

Judge recommends mediation for bitter divorce financial settlement couple

2010-06-29T10:52:00.000+01:00

Lord Justice Thorpe has urged a wealthy couple embroiled in a dispute over their divorce financial settlement to seek mediation rather than become further involved in yet more legal wrangling, the Telegraph reports.

The ex-wife of former oil and gas millionaire businessman, Gareth Jones, is seeking to overturn an ancillary relief order which left her with £5 million after saying it was "simply not enough".

Court of Appeal judges allowed her challenge to the order on the grounds that the divorce payout did not accurately reflect the wealth that Mr Jones, 58, had amassed whilst married to Mrs Jones.

When the divorce financial settlement was agreed in March 2010 the couple's assets were said to be valued at £25 million, and Mr Justice Charles ruled that Mrs Jones, 44, was entitled to only a partial share as around 60 percent of the assets had been amassed before the couple became husband and wife.

Mrs Jones' divorce solicitor told the three appeal court judges that accountancy evidence had proved a very different financial valuation of Mr Jones' business worth before the marriage. He stated that Mrs Jones should actually have received a payout closer to 40 percent of the £25 million total.

After hearing two hours of argument, appeal court judge Sir Nicholas Wall granted permission for Mrs Jones to take her dispute to full Appeal Court hearing, to be held at a later date, stating that her complaints were "arguable".

Yet, Thorpe LJ recommended mediation to stave off further protracted legal action in the already long running divorce financial settlement.

Management buyout for specialist crane supplies firm

2010-06-28T10:10:00.000+01:00

A management buyout has resulted in the managing director of a company which supplies electrical equipment to the crane industry becoming its major shareholder.

SIMBAL was founded in 1979 and now has a turnover of £1.5m, with more than 600 customers around the world for its electrical equipment such as conductor systems, electrical cables and remote radio control systems to both crane manufacturers and crane service companies.

Its seven-strong team has built the business on the back of strong technical service and experience, sourcing products world-wide.

The new boss, Steve Woolley, who takes over from Brian and Sandra Ball, has been in the industry all his working life and joined SIMBAL five years ago from Street Crane Company, one of the world's top crane manufacturers. Both firms are based in Chapel-en-le-Frith.

He said, "Our main goal is to build long term relationships that meet the needs of our customer and suppliers. This transaction gives us a sound platform to continue with this approach."

Corporate finance for the MBO was provided through the Manchester office of RBS and included an Enterprise Finance Guarantee loan.

The senior manager of the bank's structured debt solutions team, Deborah Jones, said SIMBAL had a solid and well-established business with a diverse customer base, but declined to disclose the cost of the management buyout.

Sentence cut for Latvian whose dangerous driving caused five-vehicle crash

2010-06-23T15:33:00.000+01:00

The Appeal Court has taken two months off a jail sentence imposed on a Latvian man who admitted dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol which resulted in a five-vehicle crash.

The 48-year-old driver, who had been drinking lager all day and was nearly four times over the drink-drive limit, committed the motoring offences in April 2009 when he lost control of his Vauxhall Vectra and collided with a Mitsubishi carrying a family of five on the A47 in Cambridgeshire.

A BMW swerved to avoid the family's car and struck another Vauxhall while the drink-driver's car came to a halt after hitting a tractor lorry, which resulted in him suffering serious injuries.

Although the family was not as badly hurt, Judge Michael Stokes QC, presiding at the appeal, said, "Whilst all of them have made a reasonably good recovery, the psychological trauma continues to affect them. They feel extremely lucky to be alive and have nightmares about the collision."

However, the Appeal Court decided that the Peterborough man who caused the accident should have his prison sentence reduced to 24 months because the judge at his original trial did not give sufficient weight to his early plea of guilty to the driving offences.

The appeal judges told his lawyer that the sentencing judge at the earlier crown court hearing had been entitled not to give the defendant full credit for his admission because of the overwhelming evidence against him.

A five-year disqualification imposed for the dangerous driving and excess alcohol offences will stand.

Speed camera accuracy affected by cold, claims motorist

2010-06-23T15:20:00.000+01:00

A motorist is making a crown court appeal against a speed camera conviction resulting in a fine and penalty points which he says have been wrongly imposed because of the inaccuracy of a Gatso machine.

The electrical engineer from Cambridgeshire claims he did not commit the alleged motoring offence of driving at 41mph in a 30mph limit because cold weather on the day in February 2009 gave a false reading on the camera.

As a regular commuter on the route, he believes he was not speeding at 6am when the temperature was -5C. He says he has research showing the Gatso is only accurate between temperatures of 0C and 70C.

Below freezing, there is a longer delay between the camera shots rather than the half-second when it is warmer, resulting in an apparent increased speed by a passing driver.

The 48-year-old driver told the Daily Mail, "If it's so cold the capacitor on the circuit can't hold its charge or is damaged, the flash will not go off in time."

He suggested that the Home Office needed to re-examine the workings of this type of speed camera. However, prior to the court case, a Government spokesman was quoted in the press as saying the Gatsos, of which there are 4,000 in the UK, had been tested for effective operating between -10C and 50C.

Although he failed to convince magistrates of the merits of his argument, the driver will be representing himself, rather than using a lawyer, at the higher court in an appeal against conviction and pressing for a High Court review.

If his appeal against the motoring offence is allowed, it may enable thousands of other motorists who have been punished for a speed camera offence in cold weather to make similar representations.

Surgeons welcome reduction of treatment targets to ease pressure

2010-06-23T09:25:00.000+01:00

The Government has announced the ending of treatment targets for NHS patients just a few weeks after a survey of surgeons revealed their concerns that pressure on them to meet targets could increase cases of clinical negligence.

President of the Royal College of Surgeons John Black said the organisation welcomed the change in emphasis from targets to measurement of outcomes, especially targets which had no clinical relevance.

He said the four-hour A&E target had severely distorted care for many patients and hoped that the system of GPs being able to refer people to an individual consultant could be reinstated. Relaxation of the 18-week deadline should allow surgeons to treat on the basis of clinical need rather than whether they would meet a target.

The survey of surgeons, carried out by Bournemouth University's school of health and social care, reported that 19% of the 549 participants said they had been involved in an incident during a two-week period in which a patient was harmed.

A total of 40% said they had experienced an instance where a patient was at risk of harm.

When asked about the reasons for lack of patient safety, many doctors said they did not feel in complete clinical control because of management pressure to meet targets.

One who was quoted in the report said his colleagues should not think they were being heroic by bowing to pressure to work despite poor staffing levels or equipment and a lack of time for complex operations rather that they were being dangerous.

Lead author of the study Professor Colin Pritchard said, "The key is the influence - and often the malign influence - of managers who are concerned with meeting targets."
A spokesman for the NHS Confederation, which represents health service managers in England, said patient safety was "of paramount importance to all NHS staff".

In 2009, a survey by Imperial College, London, found that one in six patients could be at risk of misdiagnosis and possible clinical negligence by their GP or hospital.

Corporate finance moves enable Daisy to focus on telecom strengths

2010-06-22T15:17:00.000+01:00

A management buyout for a nominal sum of one section of its business and the sale of licences held by a subsidiary are part of corporate finance moves by Aim-listed telecommunications group Daisy, which has headquarters at Nelson, Lancashire.

UK Broadband, part of the PCCW Group, has bought the WiMAX spectrum licences, which Daisy held within its Freedom4 subsidiary, for £12.5m in a deal planned to free up at least £1m for the business telecoms provider.

Having declared losses of £2.4m for the first nine months of 2009 on Freedom4, into which it reversed last year, a statement by Daisy said the sale of the licences would save it £800,000 annually and, overall, result in an additional £1m cost saving.

The other loss-making arm, its WiFi business, which drained the parent company of £300,000 between January 2009 and March this year, has been bought by its management team.

Founder and chief executive of Daisy group Matthew Riley said the company's strategy was to become the leading provider to small and medium enterprises and mid-market business customers of all their communications needs.

He said, "The WiMAX and WiFi businesses were not core to the Daisy Group, and the disposals mean we can focus on our unified communications strategy, as well as improve cash flow."

Since 2001, Daisy has built up a 70,000-strong customer base with its award-winning service, products and business methods, offering phone lines, broadband, anti-spam and anti-virus technologies and business mobile phones.

It was named the UK's 8th fastest growing technology company in the 2008 Deloitte Fast50 chart, and reported annual turnover of £53m in the last financial year before its latest corporate finance deals.

Divorce rate down in Northern Ireland

2010-06-22T09:27:00.000+01:00

Divorce solicitors handling cases in Northern Ireland may have noticed a drop in the number of couples seeking their legal advice recently as data released by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency has shown that around 600 fewer couples got divorced in 2009 when compared with official figures for 2008.

The number of divorces agreed through Northern Ireland's family law courts in 2009 was 2,176; in 2008 the figure had been 2,800.

Approximately 15 percent of those divorces were agreed to couples whose marriages were formalised outside Northern Ireland and the average lifespan of the marriage was just under 18 years.

But it is not just the number of divorces which has fallen; fewer couples got married in 2009 as well. The number of registered marriages was 7,900, which was, coincidentally, 600 fewer marriages than were registered in 2009.

Divorce solicitors in England and Wales have been affected by the same trend, as figures released in January, by the Office for National Statistics revealed that the national divorce rate had fallen to its lowest level for 29 years.

Hospital admits clinical negligence over head injury man ejected as drunk

2010-06-21T09:23:00.001+01:00

Compensation for clinical negligence has been paid to the family of a man who was not treated at the Royal Oldham Hospital because staff did not read notes stating he had a head injury but believed he was drunk and he left Accident and Emergency without treatment.

The misdiagnosis of the 47-year-old Failsworth man's condition was criticised by both a Crown Court judge and a coroner who said his death could have been prevented if he had received suitable care.

The victim had suffered his injury in September 2007 as a result of banging his head on the ground when he was pushed after asking pub customers next to his home to be quieter. Paramedics took him to the hospital by ambulance with notes saying he had lost consciousness after hitting his head.

At the hospital, he did not see a doctor or receive treatment and was allowed to leave A&E when he said he wanted to go home because staff thought he was drunk.

He was seen by security staff wandering around outside the buildings for the next 15 hours, repeatedly falling and vomiting but was not re-admitted until after police had been called by a passer-by and he suffered a fit in their vehicle.

After the victim died two days later without recovering consciousness, a pub customer was charged with his manslaughter, however, when that man was found not guilty, the trial judge called for an inquest and a thorough inquiry by the Pennine Acute Trust.

During a five-day inquest, consultant neurosurgeon Prof John Pickard said, "Had he had surgery and intensive care treatment, on the balance of probabilities, he would have survived, but would have been left with poor mental function and personality change."

In delivering a narrative verdict, the Coroner said the systematic failings at the hospital had contributed to the welder's death, which could have been averted if he had received suitable care.

Dr Ruth Jameson, of Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust, which apologised to the family and paid a five-figure out-of-court compensation clinical negligence settlement before the inquest, said lessons had been learnt from the incident and changes made to procedures for treating patients who are suspected of being drunk.

Family law reforms could mean greater rights for grandparents on divorce

2010-06-17T15:06:00.000+01:00

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has announced family law reforms which will include greater rights for grandparents so they are able to continue seeing their grandchildren when a marriage breaks down or ends in divorce.

Speaking at an event organised by children's charity Barnardo's in Central London Mr Clegg said that grandparents can play a major role in child care when parents split up, but it was "crazy" that many lose touch with their grandchildren as a result of relationship breakdown.

A government source said, "We are looking at how to provide greater access rights to non-resident parents and grandparents when couples separate."

Separating step-parents who have lived as part of a family for more than three years were given the right to apply for contact under The Children Act 1989, yet, grandparents do not have the same ability to obtain a contact order.

Currently, grandparents must apply to family law courts to get permission to request contact with grandchildren when it is not possible to mutually agree conditions with the divorced or separated parent who has been granted the residence order. This process can be costly and drawn-out.

The plan to allow grandparents the right to apply for contact will be welcomed by campaigners for grandparent's rights who have argued for family law reform on this issue for many years.

Stafford Hospital public inquiry welcomed as move to reduce clinical negligence

2010-06-17T12:41:00.000+01:00

A public inquiry into clinical negligence and other issues relating to the deaths of up to 1,200 patients more than should have been expected between 2005 and 2008 at Stafford Hospital has been announced by the Government.

This will be the first full public hearing of medical errors and other failings at an NHS hospital and follows an independent inquiry, authorised by the previous Labour government, which had more restrictive terms of reference.

Announcing the inquiry, Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs that people who had gone into the hospital for routine operations had died needlessly because standards of hygiene and management had not been right. He also said targets were being pursued rather than clinical outcomes.

The first inquiry into clinical negligence at the hospital, run by Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, found patients had been routinely neglected and that there had been systemic failings in care management.

Managers were accused of being preoccupied with cost-cutting and meeting Government targets.
The Healthcare Commission also published a report in 2009 which detailed a range of care and medical failings and led to the inquiry by Robert Francis QC.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said the new inquiry also would be chaired by Mr Francis and was expected to report by March 2011. He said both the families of patients who suffered and every NHS patient in the UK deserved to know how the system had allowed such medical errors to happen and to restore public confidence.

Welcoming the public inquiry, chief executive of the Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) Peter Walsh said, "This should not just be about what happened at that hospital. We need to learn how all the safeguards that are meant to be in place to prevent this sort of thing happening failed. Otherwise, the same could occur in your local hospital or mine.

"That means looking at the role of all the relevant institutions, right up to the Department of Health itself. Now it is imperative that the terms of reference are right and that there is a commitment to act on the findings and recommendations."

He added that the organization wanted the inquiry to be a model of efficiency and hoped it could make a vital contribution in protecting the public interest in the field of clinical negligence and monitoring the NHS.

Salford's speed camera sites take £500,000 in year

2010-06-16T12:40:00.000+01:00

Ten speed camera sites in Manchester have taken more than £500,000 in a year of fining drivers.

According to figures revealed by the Salford Advertiser, a total of 8,823 of these motoring offences were recorded by those ten between March 2009 and March 2010.

Netting an average of £1,450.36 a day for the three types of camera used, punishments included a mixture of on-the-spot fines and drivers having to attend speed awareness courses.

Fixed speed cameras comprised the majority of monitoring devices, while laser cameras resulted in 25.52% of offences and red light cameras 4.3% of the total.

The highest number of offences was where the A580 East Lancs Road joins Moorside Road, Swinton. Here 1,954 drivers were asked to pay £117, 240 of fines.

The newspaper report states the top 10 cameras in order are:

Swinton - A580 East Lancs Road at the junction with Moorside Road - 1,954 offences generating £117,240

Pendleton - A6 Broad Street at slip road to Charles Street - 1,353 offences generating £81,180

Lower Broughton - Bury New Road (Northbound) north of New Hall Road - 989 offences generating £59,340

Lower Broughton - Bury New Road (Southbound) north of New Hall Road - 871 offences generating £52,260

Swinton - A580 East Lancs Road at Worsley Road junction - 760 offences generating £45,600

Clifton - A666 Manchester Road, Clifton - 799 offences generating £47,940

Ordsall - A5066 Ordsall Lane - 612 offences generating £36,720

Walkden - A575 Walkden Road - 616 offences generating £36,960

Salford Quays - Trafford Road at Regent Road roundabout north east bound - 380 offences generating £22,800

Walkden - A6 Manchester Road - 489 offences generating £29,340 of income

Communications manager for Greater Manchester's Casualty Reduction Partnership DriveSafe Karen Delaney said speed cameras were a safety measure which aimed to prevent accidents as well as encouraging drivers to keep within the speed limit.

"They are a valuable tool in making Greater Manchester's roads safer for all users by helping to reduce dangerous driving and, therefore, the number of deaths and collisions. Road safety partnerships all over the country are ultimately trying to save lives."

Out of more than 150 speed cameras in the Greater Manchester area, 16 are within the city.

Award-winning private equity firm in buyout of specialist insurer

2010-06-16T12:37:00.000+01:00

Fish Insurance, which provides products for disabled people and carers, has been the subject of a £30m secondary buyout by Inflexion Private Equity, the Manchester and London-based mid-market corporate finance specialist.

Based in Preston, Fish has established itself since 1975 by providing cover for vehicles, including motorised wheelchairs and scooters, as well as other items, such as stair lifts, and public liability insurance for people who have carers in their homes.

The profitable insurer, which has 65,000 policyholders and 25 staff under chief executive Elissa Foster, attracted attention from venture capital firms as well as industry competitors when Manchester-based Mosaic Private Equity, which bought Fish for £5.4m in August 2007, decided to put it up for sale. Mosaic will be retaining a small stake in the firm.

Award-winning Inflexion will have two of its executives, Tim Smallbone and Catherine Richards, on the insurer's board.

It's been a busy year for Inflexion which, since its £35m acquisition of international IT services company FDM Group in February, has been the recipient of a number of industry plaudits. Jack Wills won the award for Best Brand in the Buyout Track 100 awards in March, Inflexion won Buyout House of the Year in the Private Equity Awards in April and last month was named Finance Specialist of the year at the annual M&A awards.

Now with a majority stake in Fish, Mr Smallbone said Inflexion would be providing commercial funding to develop the firm. "It's a terrific business. We are delighted with the transaction."

Indian divorce solicitor comments on new Hindu family law amendment

2010-06-15T15:09:00.000+01:00

Marital breakdown in India is undoubtedly becoming more prolific according to notable divorce solicitors and a new law, recently passed by the Indian government in a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is set to make it easier for married couples to divorce.

The amendment to the Hindu marriage act has been ordered to allow the irretrievable breakdown of a relationship as a ground for divorce.

Hindu family law courts would hitherto only grant a divorce if the couple had mutually consented to the dissolution and India's Minister of Information, Ambika Soni, said that the law change would help parties get a divorce "if any party does not come to court or wilfully avoids the court".

There are no official figures for the Indian divorce rate, but experts suggest that around 11 in 1,000 Indian marriages end in divorce. In the US the rate is roughly 400 in every 1,000.

"Divorce solicitor Kamini Jaiswal, Indian Supreme Court advocate, told the BBC that although the proposal may be seen as a "welcome step" it may only help urban women as rural wives are still more oppressed by their husbands.

"Divorce is definitely more socially acceptable in urban India," she said. "I have seen a rapid rise in divorces, but in order to obtain a divorce it can take anywhere from six months to 20 years."

Acquisition of domestic appliance business boosts Oldham firm

2010-06-15T12:31:00.000+01:00

Ultimate Products, the UK's largest full service product sourcing and design business, which is based in Oldham, has added another business to a string of recent acquisitions as part of its expansion strategy.

It has announced that Warrington-based Appliance365, with co-owner Guy Weaver, has joined the £80m-turnover company to boost the small appliance division.

Among other goods, the deal will add celebrity-badged cookware from Rosemary Conley and Oz Clarke to Ultimate's existing range for Anthony Worrall Thompson.

Weaver set up Appliance365 with Peter Brazier in May 2009 for £1.3m after the collapse of his previous domestic products business, Premium Appliance Brands. Corporate finance specialist KBC Capital provided £3.5m funding for it to continue designing and making toasters, kettles, slow cookers, mixers and similar items for retailers, such as B&Q and Tesco, as well as built-in kitchen appliances.

Weaver's extensive experience in this field will be seen as complementary to Ultimate Products homewares and small electrical sectors, which are among the 15 categories of goods available for retailers to view at the dynamic company's 20,000 sq ft showroom.

Chief executive of Ultimate Simon Showman said Weaver's proven track record working with major UK retailers and his long career with suppliers in Hong Kong and China would be a great asset to the combined company.

With its world-wide network of suppliers producing more than 6,000 products, both selected by its buyers and designed as bespoke ranges for customers, the combination of variety, keen pricing and suitability of ranges has given Ultimate its pre-eminent position.

Earlier this year, it added fellow Oldham company Japinda Group's luggage and small leather goods division to its portfolio, having bought electronics supplier Intempo Digital at the end of 2009.

Private equity firm LDC has provided commercial funding for Ultimate's declared ambition of continuing acquisitions towards a turnover of £100m. The value of its most recent transactions has not been announced.

Negligence of hospital staff led to cerebral palsy man's death in bed

2010-06-11T10:57:00.000+01:00

Failures of health and safety which led to the death of a severely disabled man have resulted in a hospital trust paying £90,000 for the medical negligence of its staff.

Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Trust was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £40,000 costs after magistrates found breaches of safety had been a significant factor in the 20-year-old man asphyxiating himself when his head became stuck between guard rails round his bed.

The court was told the victim was deaf, blind, quadriplegic and had severe learning disabilities due to cerebral palsy but his round-the-clock nursing care had been withdrawn when he was moved to a different room for continuing treatment for a stomach problem.

The solicitor prosecuting on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the hospital, which pleaded guilty to failing to ensure patients were not exposed to risk, had failed to supervise the victim properly or to pass on information, train staff, assess risk and heed warnings adequately.

He said, "[The trust] accepts that its offending was a significant cause of this death. Management failed to lay down correct procedures."

The director of nursing at the hospital said they fully accepted and profoundly apologised for the mistakes made and had put in place many improvements. More than £1m had been spent to re-equip the hospital with beds and bed-related equipment.

Since the death in 2006, the Care Quality Commission (CHQ), which supervises the NHS, has monitored the trust closely after inspections revealed other failings with the potential for medical negligence, particularly towards people with a learning disability, including insufficient training, poor communication with patients and the way it assesses and manages safety risks.

On 1 April 2010, CQC, which can take tough enforcement measures up to closure of a hospital, imposed conditions on the Basildon trust and said it must take urgent action to ensure:

all in-patients have an assessment of their needs, and that a care plan and risk assessment are prepared

premises are safe from legionellas by taking action set out by the Health and Safety Executive

an action plan must be in place to address concerns arising from the Nursing and Midwifery Council's review, published in March 2010

clinical staff are assessed and trained to implement NICE guidance on the care of acutely ill patients in hospital

systems for supervision and appraisal of staff are in place

Misdiagnosis of miscarriage may lead to clinical negligence claims

2010-06-10T10:55:00.000+01:00

Hundreds of women in Ireland have contacted health authorities and some are considering making clinical negligence claims over fears of misdiagnosis of miscarriage through errors in foetal scans.

Criticism of ante-natal services is growing after a mother, who was told her baby's heartbeat could not be detected in a scan and was advised to have a termination, sought a second ultrasound test which established the foetus was still alive and she went on to have a healthy child.

Since details of the case were released, other mothers who were monitored at a number of hospitals and clinics have come forward to speak of similar circumstances where they have been advised of a lack of foetal heartbeat but subsequent tests proved this to be incorrect.

The Health Services Executive is now to review all recorded cases of misdiagnosed miscarriages and will investigate others brought to its attention. It has ruled that all decisions by staff at public and private obstetric units to prescribe drugs or surgery for women after scans must be authorised by a consultant obstetrician.

Director of foetal medicine at the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Dr Peter McParland said that in 99 per cent of cases the correct diagnosis is made but that in instances where the result is not clear, a second scan is usually carried out.

"As doctors and midwives we all realise that ultrasound is not infallible and indeed in general medicine there are few tests or investigations which are 100 per cent correct," he said.

One couple said they were disgusted by the lack of action by the authorities to replace scanning equipment at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda more than six months after the error was brought to its attention.

A number of helplines have been set up by maternity hospitals for concerned women to contact health services and several families which have been affected are calling for an independent inquiry into the handling of the miscarriage misdiagnosis cases.

Foreign drivers' use of magnets to avoid motoring offence criticised

2010-06-09T10:59:00.000+01:00

Foreign lorry drivers, who use magnets to cheat on their tachograph readings and commit a motoring offence in the UK, should be punished with disqualification, according to the Road Haulage Association (RHA).

The chief executive of the haulage industry representative organisation, Geoff Dunning, said magnets disrupted the signal to the on-board tachograph which meant the drivers could disregard the law on working hours, creating a danger to other road users because their abilities were likely to be reduced due to tiredness.

He said, "It is quite rare for British drivers to use magnets. The consequences are severe for both the driver, who is likely to lose his vocational licence, and, in all likelihood, for the employer, who may lose his licence to operate trucks. In short, they may both be put out of the industry."

It has been reported by The Central Motorway Police Group that 30% of foreign lorries which were checked between January and March this year were using a magnet.

The RHA spokesman said that usually those drivers who avoided using the tachograph were given a £200 fixed penalty, which avoided a complicated court case. Even when they were taken before magistrates and found guilty the punishment was often inadequate for such a motoring offence.

He added that an unequivocal message should go out to non-UK drivers and hauliers that using magnets to cheat on the drivers' hours rules was unacceptable.

"We are urging the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) and the police to take the driver to court as a matter of course when there is evidence that he has used a magnet; and for the courts to then impose a heavy fine and instant disqualification on the driver if he is guilty."

Police £1m car crash compensation bill reduces after speeding case

2010-06-08T11:11:00.000+01:00

The family of a man who was killed in a collision with a speeding police car was one of 1,757 victims of accidents involving Lancashire Police officers between 2005 and 2009 who received compensation.

The case of the 67-year-old man from Bolton-le-Sands, who died in 2006, resulted in the constable, who had been on a high-speed driving training exercise, being convicted of careless driving and disqualified.

Although Lancashire Police has said its employees were responsible for more than half of the 3,200 car crashes in which they were involved and paid a total of £937,805 compensation to people injured in the accidents, the figures, revealed by the Lancashire Evening Post show a reduction of one-third since the start of the period.

In a bid to improve safety and reduce motoring offences, the force has changed its assessment and training, with a resultant improvement in driving standards, while responding to an average of 60,000 emergency incidents a year.

Chief Insp Debbie Howard, of the Road Policing Unit, said, "Safety of the public and our staff is a priority for Lancashire Constabulary and we have brought in a number of measures to reduce the number of police vehicle collisions."

North West remains attractive to foreign business investors

2010-06-08T11:09:00.000+01:00

Although the North West attracted fewer foreign investors last year than in 2008, it was still the region which came joint second with Belfast after London as the most popular place for acquisition or establishment of new businesses.

According to the European Attractiveness Survey compiled by accountants Ernst and Young, 20 business investments were made in the Greater Manchester area by corporations based overseas. These included a pizza factory at Westhoughton, Bolton, for Freiberger.

The regional total of 38 corporate finance developments, which compared with a figure of 51 a year earlier, geographically was made up of ten on Merseyside, five in Cheshire, two in Lancashire and one in Cumbria.

The US was the source of one-third of the undertakings, such as CP Manufacturing, which is establishing a waste management and recycling equipment base at Littleborough.

Businesses with their main operations in Germany, Ireland and Denmark have also invested in the North West.

Half of the projects were in sectors covering manufacturers of machinery and equipment, chemicals and electrical.

Among those with foreign backers in the financial and business services sector, which made an acquisition or started their operations in the region in 2008, were Bluefin Group and Zendor GSI Commerce, which has a call centre operation in Oldham.

Berlusconi divorce settlement negotiations taken over by judge

2010-06-08T11:08:00.000+01:00

Their respective divorce solicitors are reluctant to be drawn on the case, but the financial settlement negotiations between Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, and his estranged wife, Veronica Lario, are likely to become protracted and certainly confrontational.

Ms Lario, who has been married to the Italian premier for 19 years, requested a divorce in May 2009 after citing Mr Berlusconi's alleged inappropriate behaviour with young women as too much to bear.

In January and May of this year two five-hour divorce settlement hearings occurred, but both failed to bring about agreement between the estranged couple and The Sunday Times now reports that the Milan judge hearing the divorce financial settlement case, Gloria Servetti, has issued rulings on the terms of separation.

Sources have said that the decree grants Ms Lario maintenance payments which are "significantly higher" than the originally agreed amount of £247,000 a month.

It is also understood that Ms Lario will be allowed to remain in the couple's 19th century mansion, the Villa Belvedere, at Macherio near Milan.

The couple are understood to now have the option of commencing further courtroom proceedings "behind closed doors" where they will be able to call witnesses to the hearings who will be legally required to testify in the divorce case.

Speaking in general terms judge Servetti said, "Both parties always have the right to call witnesses to demonstrate which of them is responsible for wrecking the marriage.

"The one who is deemed responsible risks losing alimony. But in all cases we must always hope that a consensual separation is possible."

In November 2009, after various press reports of maintenance demands and offers between the couple, Mr Berlusconi's divorce solicitor, Ippolita Ghedini, was quoted as saying that it was unfortunate that a consensual separation was not being treated with the "reserve required".

Man left disabled after spine operation awarded clinical negligence compensation

2010-06-02T11:02:00.000+01:00

Misdiagnosis of fractures to his pelvis and hips for seven months, which left a man wheelchair-bound, have contributed to him being awarded a six-figure sum of clinical negligence compensation.

The cause of the fractures suffered by the man, from Birmingham, was the incorrect use of a spinal stimulator implant at the Royal London Hospital in October 2004.

The surgical procedure was intended to relieve pain from an existing medical condition but later independent experts said the implant had been inserted too far to the side of the victim's spine which stimulated his motor nerves rather than the intended sensory nerves.

This mistake when the machine was switched on led to the former lorry driver suffering a massive muscle spasm whereby he was thrown up into the air from a wheelchair and back down violently, breaking several bones.

Despite having massive bruising and experiencing severe pain, neither hospital doctors nor his GP sought x-rays to diagnose the victim's problems until May 2005. By then, it was too late for him to have remedial treatment.

In October 2009, Barts and the London NHS Trust and his GP admitted the delay in diagnosing the fractures.

The victim told the press that after five and a half years he was still very angry at the treatment he had received.

"I regard the settlement as clear acknowledgement of failings on the part of the hospital doctors and my GP. I hope they both learn lessons from what happened to me so that nobody else has to suffer as I have."

The 60-year-old man intends to use the undisclosed clinical negligence compensation payment to move into a bungalow suitable for his disabilities.

Driver who did not receive NIP loses speeding appeal

2010-06-02T11:01:00.000+01:00

A driver, who unexpectedly was made homeless and did not receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) after speeding in a 50mph limit, failed in his appeal against the subsequent fixed penalty.

The 36-year-old Northampton motorist had been caught by a speed camera on the A11 at Barton Mills, Suffolk, in January 2008. Because he did not reply to the NIP issued at that time, in his absence, magistrates fined him and made a costs order.

He told the Ipswich Crown Court appeal that he would have been prepared to pay the initial £60 fixed penalty if he had received the NIP but did not think it was fair to have to meet the magistrates' court costs because he had been unaware of the motoring offence and subsequent hearing.

The driver said he had suddenly become homeless and jobless when the owner of the public house of which he was the live-in manager in Norwich had closed it without notice and evicted him. He had returned to live with his parents and had known nothing of the speed camera offence for 14 months.

Dismissing the appeal against the speeding conviction, Judge John Devaux said the fixed penalty notice had been sent to his correct address as listed in official records and no forwarding address had been available.

As well as the costs of the £229 speeding appeal hearing, the motorist had to pay magistrates' court costs of £60 and a £15 victim surcharge for the original speed camera offence.

Asda in £778m acquisition of discount retailer Netto

2010-06-02T10:45:00.000+01:00

Asda, the Leeds-based supermarket group which is the second-largest UK grocery chain, has made a £778m corporate finance acquisition in taking over discount food retailer Netto from its Danish owners.

Although the deal is subject to Office of Fair Trading (OFT) approval, if it goes ahead as expected later this year, Netto's 193 stores will be converted to Asda by the middle of 2011 as part of its new division for supermarkets of less than 25,000 sq ft.

Netto, which has headquarters at Pontefract, West Yorkshire, has stores averaging less than a quarter of the size of Asda shops and selling fewer than 2,000 items, compared with 20,000-30,000 in the larger supermarkets.

It moved into the UK in 1990 but is the leading retailer in Denmark. With strong sales in Scandanavia and other parts of northern Europe, it intends to concentrate its commercial interests there.

Asda became part of the giant US Wal-Mart group in 1999 and the Netto acquisition is the first by the new chief executive Andy Clarke, who moved up to the top job in May 2010.

He said, "Customers will benefit from low prices on a significantly broader range of quality products, complemented by the wide range of services we offer in all our smaller stores."

Asda intends to employ up to twice as many staff as at the existing Netto shops and extend the range of goods stocked.

Business analysts suggest the deal to increase its number of stores to 568 is part of Asda's corporate finance strategy to expand into smaller community-based shops and may involve further acquisitions in the non-food sector to increase its competitiveness with arch-rival Tesco.

Cheryl Cole sings in Manchester then files for divorce

2010-06-01T11:06:00.000+01:00

Even though Cheryl Cole may be about become an ex-WAG as a result of her impending divorce, Manchester still welcomed her with open arms recently when she appeared at the Manchester Evening News Arena.

The concert was attended by fellow England football team WAG (wives and girlfriends) Colleen Rooney who chose to support Cheryl, rather than her husband, as he played against Mexico in a pre- World Cup friendly on the same night.

Media reports stated that Mrs Cole formally began divorce proceedings on the 26th May, just two days after the Manchester concert, with the express intent that a "quickie divorce" would effect a clean break for the couple in time for Mr Cole to focus on his playing in the World Cup.

However, as the time it takes for a family law court to utterly dissolve a marriage - from filing of the divorce petition to the granting of a decree absolute - takes a period of months rather than weeks and the fact that England play their first game in the competition on Saturday 12th June, it is unlikely that this will be the case, even for the Coles.

Newspaper reports say that the ground for divorce was cited as "unreasonable behaviour" and that the divorce petition contained an admission of infidelity by Ashley Cole. It is also said the Mrs Cole has offered her husband sole possession of the couple's £6 million pound Surrey home and will not be asking for any periodical or lump sum payments from him as part of the financial settlement agreement.

Major MBO boosts North West region quarterly figures

2010-05-28T09:22:00.000+01:00

Two major management buyouts (MBO) in the first quarter of 2010 boosted the value of sales in the North West region to more than £1.25billion, according to corporate finance research specialists.

Out of town retailer Pets at Home, which was acquired by private equity house KKR for £955m, and has headquarters at Handforth, Cheshire, comprised the largest deal, followed by the £250m sale of Survitec, of Birkenhead, by Montagu Private Equity.

The Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR) says that in total only 11 private equity-backed deals were finalised in the period, seven of which were businesses bought out of administration.

In the final quarter of 2009, 14 buyouts were registered but their total value was only £16.7m. The overall total for 2009 was £437m.

Director of research sponsor Barclays Private Equity John Walker said there were few deals in the £10m-£100m range.

"While the two high value deals seen in January were highly positive for the North West deals market following a dearth of transactions in 2009, these represent only a step in the gradual recovery of the regional buyout market," he added.

Former lorry boss Eddie Stobart disqualified for drink-driving

2010-05-28T09:08:00.000+01:00

The former boss of transport company Eddie Stobart was disqualified from driving for 20 months after he admitted drink-driving.

Multi-millionaire Eddie Stobart, who was breath-tested by police in Stratford-upon-Avon after leaving a pub, was found to have been twice the legal limit with 70 micrograms of alcohol to 100ml of breath when driving his Mercedes.

His barrister told magistrates that Mr Stobart had not intended to drive that day and was only over the limit because he had not eaten.

At the time of his arrest for the motoring offence, he told the press, "You shouldn't drink and drive, there is confusion because people say you can have two drinks and be OK, but a regular drinker can drink more - I'm not a regular drinker."

Mr Stobart's brother bought the North West-based logistics group six years ago but its distinctively liveried lorries continue to bear his name while carrying goods throughout the UK and Europe.

If Mr Stobert undertakes a 16-hour drink-driving rehabilitation course, his disqualification for drink-driving will be reduced by 20 weeks. He was also fined £565.

New police vehicle has four speed cameras

2010-05-28T09:04:00.001+01:00

A new style of mobile speed camera unit which can monitor traffic from all angles at once is expected to increase the number of motoring offences detected.

Bedfordshire Police has converted four vehicles, at a cost of £28,000 each, which allow a single operator to check for speeding drivers. They compare with the standard vans having only a camera at the rear.

An officer operates an LTI Ultralyte 1000 laser gun from within the Commander Van and cameras are mounted on the dashboard, side panels and rear.

The new multi-cameras are able to register a vehicle potentially speeding at up to 200 mph and a kilometre (two-thirds of a mile) away. In an effort to reduce cases where drivers contest identification, front, rear and side images of each vehicle can be taken as it passes.

They can also film motorbikes with their number plates on the front and rear mudguards.

A police spokeswoman said they not want to catch people for motoring offences with the speed camera but to slow them down through the deterrent effect.

Family's clinical negligence compensation over locum doctor's error

2010-05-27T09:02:00.000+01:00

Clinical negligence compensation has been offered to the family of a man who died as a result of a German locum doctor's error in prescribing an overdose of the painkiller diamorphine.

The death of the 70-year-old man, who had been suffering from renal colic, was defined by the coroner at his inquest as unlawful killing.

Cambridgeshire police has issued a European arrest warrant for manslaughter against the doctor, who was on his first shift working for an out-of-hours provider, Take Care Now.

A German court has given him a nine months suspended sentence with 5,000 euros costs after he pleaded guilty to causing death by negligence.

As a result of the case, the European Commission is re-examining the rules on movement of labour which permit a GP or other doctor qualified in the EU to work in the UK without necessarily being tested on their professional competence or English language skills.

The victim's family have made a complaint against the UK and German governments to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming their right to justice has been violated because of the way the criminal case was handled. If the case is proved, further compensation may be payable.

In addition to the clinical negligence compensation payment of £40,000, negotiations over legal costs are continuing between solicitors for the family and the GP, the care agency and NHS Cambridgeshire.

Cancer reconstruction surgery was 'a cosmetic disaster'

2010-05-26T09:00:00.000+01:00

Medical negligence compensation of £37,000 has been awarded to a Bolton woman whose reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy was described in an independent report as "woefully inadequate" and "a cosmetic disaster".

The former travel firm accounts clerk was diagnosed with a cancerous lump in her right breast in September 2003, which was removed at the Royal Bolton Hospital. At the same time, the consultant surgeon who performed the operation suggested a mastectomy immediately followed by reconstruction.

The woman, who is now 57, told the Daily Mail that the operation left her with one breast smaller and higher than the other. She suffered years of pain and felt "like a freak show".

'It's really ugly - it's made me very self-conscious and I'm embarrassed to be seen naked," she told the newspaper.

She warned other women who were recovering from breast cancer to ensure they were treated by a surgeon who specialised in reconstruction to prevent a similar doctor's error.

A spokesman for the Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, also speaking on behalf of the consultant, said Mrs Laidlaw's treatment had been of "entirely appropriate" standard but accepted she had been unhappy with the 'cosmetic' result.

An out-of-court settlement for medical negligence was agreed by the trust and it will pay £9,000 for further cosmetic surgery to repair the previous operation's results.

Public are better informed about divorce rights in the civil justice system than any other issue

2010-05-25T08:58:00.000+01:00

A new report commissioned by the Public Legal Education Network (Plenet) has highlighted consumer lack of knowledge regarding legal rights in the English and Welsh judicial system. However, divorce rights proved to be the specific issue where a higher number of survey respondents were better informed of their rights.

Entitled Knowledge, Capability and the Experience of Rights Problems the research was carried out be the Legal Services Research Centre who questioned more than 10,000 respondents as part of the Civil and Social Justice Survey, looking at how people handle problems relating to law, and assessing what impact a lack of legal capability has on the population.

The findings revealed an extensive lack of legal rights knowledge among the respondents. Of those with a civil justice issue around two thirds (66%) suggested they did not know their position when dealing with a legal problem.

However, when it came to family law and divorce rights, those who had experienced divorce were the most well informed group regarding their legal entitlements.

The statistics showed that 41.3% of the cohort, who had experienced divorce, did not know their rights in family law and 40.9% did not know the legal procedures. These were the lowest figures of respondents dealing with a specific issue.

When it came to the respondents who had experienced clinical negligence the figures rose considerably – 86.3% did not know their rights, while 89.7% did not know the procedures. Those suffering from mental health were the least well-informed regarding their position in the civil justice system.

Lisa Wintersteiger, Plenet's Development Manager, said, "These findings are further evidence of widespread legal exclusion. There are significant gaps in people's knowledge, skills and confidence in dealing with legal issues.

"The results show problems are not spread evenly across the population or across the issues. They disproportionately affect some very vulnerable groups."

Medical negligence award for man who constantly appears to be drunk

2010-05-21T16:39:00.001+01:00

Since being injected with twice the safe dose of the antibiotic gentamicin, a 60-year-old man constantly sees double and has dizziness and balance problems, which give him the appearance of being drunk, but now the hospital trust responsible for the mistake has been ordered to pay his medical negligence claim.

The Sheffield man's inner ear condition is incurable and his symptoms have forced him to give up his job. He cannot go out alone because of the risk of falling and has difficulties with his vision.

His ototoxicity stems from treatment at Rotherham District Hospital in 2005 for a heart complaint.

He was awarded £575,000 in medical negligence compensation for the doctor's error in prescribing the antibiotic.

New family law in Mali causes wave of protests

2010-05-20T15:05:00.001+01:00

Changes to family law in Mali have brought widespread protests in the country and now, after backing the new laws which promote women's rights in marriage, the imam of Kati has been threatened with dismissal by local Muslim leaders.

A report by the BBC reveals that the imam has also received threatening phone calls after he expressed his views in a letter to Mali's High Islamic Council. In April he told the council that he felt nothing in the new laws infringed Mali's social values, or those of Islam.

The new family law proposals are currently receiving a second reading in Mali's parliament because President Amadou Toumani Toure believed the laws threatened national unity. He refused to ratify the laws after protests by Muslims. Mali's population is made up of 90% Muslim people.

Under the new laws husbands and wives would be committed to offer each other loyalty and protection rather than wives being obliged to obey their husbands. Women would also receive greater inheritance rights and the minimum age for a girl to marry would, in most circumstances, be increased to 18.

The parliament building came under attack when the new laws were introduced in August 2009, and the proposed sacking of the imam of Kati appears to highlight the depth of feeling surrounding changes to Mali's family law and its affect on Mali family relationships.

Landmark right to life ruling after clinical negligence decision on suicide

2010-05-19T16:29:00.001+01:00

A landmark ruling on clinical negligence has been made by the High Court, following the suicide of a woman who was being treated for mental health problems in a secure hospital but managed to leave the ward and kill herself on a railway line.

The woman's daughter received £10,000 compensation from South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust as "just satisfaction" because her mother's right to life under the European Convention of Human Rights had been breached.

Judge Mr Justice Mackay was told the 50-year-old woman, who suffered from a paranoid mental illness, had made several attempts to run away from the hospital and spoken of killing herself. He said he had no doubt she presented a real risk of absconding and committing suicide in the days before she did so.

He did not accept the NHS trust's claim that it had done all it could to prevent the death and said the patient could reasonably have been kept under closer observation.

A clinical negligence solicitor, who represented the victim's daughter, said the case set a legal precedent by allowing family members to claim recompense where a detained mental health patient had been failed by the NHS.

TV-watching driver guilty of not being in control of his vehicle

2010-05-19T16:07:00.001+01:00

Watching a TV on the dashboard, writing notes while driving and having a dog on their lap were among the examples of drivers not being in control of their vehicles which were reported by North Wales Police in 2009.

Although using a mobile phone while at the wheel was the most common instance of this motoring offence, less usual incidents where drivers were caught included kissing a passenger, taking photographs, a child sitting on a motorist's knee, people rolling up cigarettes and a motorist who was holding a 2.5m piece plastic strip.

A motorcyclist who performed a wheelie was also convicted.

In each incident, drivers were seen not in control of their vehicles either on a camera or by a police officer. Depending on the circumstances, they were fined and/or penalty points were imposed.

Speed camera fault leads to prosecution failing

2010-05-19T15:23:00.000+01:00

A professional chauffeur has escaped prosecution for speeding by proving there was a fault with the speed camera which appeared to show he was driving at 10mph above the 30mph limit.

The case, which involved a hand-held speed camera used by police on the A412 at Denham, Buckinghamshire, was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service for lack of evidence the day before a scheduled court hearing.

The 37-year-old driver, who runs a Hertfordshire-based chauffeur car service, viewed the DVD footage of his car at a police station and saw an error message on the screen at the time of his alleged motoring offence.

A spokesman for the campaign group Safe Speed said, "For a long time, we've been stating that this equipment can be faulty. This clearly shows proof of that."

The chauffeur said, "These cameras are being used nationwide and it can allow authorities to prosecute people with false evidence. It will not show an error message and the speed you were doing at the same time."

A still of the video would show the car and the speed but any camera error message would not appear.

He added that he was concerned other drivers could have been past the same speed camera and then convicted of speeding, despite not breaking the limit, with the consequent implications of the imposition of penalty points and the possibility of disqualification under totting up.

Sixth acquisition of the year for telecoms business

2010-05-19T15:21:00.000+01:00

Buying Liverpool's NPC Telecom in its sixth acquisition of the year, Chess is remaining on course for its declared aim of buying one business a month in 2010.

Earlier this year, among others, the Alderley Edge-based telecoms business bought out Breeze Telecom, Company Communications (UK) and Pennycom.

No price for the NPC deal has been announced but it will add around 1,000 customers to the company's portfolio and is expected to take the group's annual revenue to more than £30m.

Prior to its latest spending spree, in the year to April 2009, group revenues of £23.7m resulted in pre-tax profits of £2.33m.

Director Richard Btesh told the Manchester Evening News, "Continued market consolidation means our list is always growing and our flexibility and reputation enables us to approach increasingly significant targets."

Since 2004, Chess has made 45 acquisitions. It has corporate finance for its present expansion through £10m additional bank funds which was approved in January.

Divorce rates may have increased because men don't dust

2010-05-18T15:02:00.000+01:00

Men who don't contribute to the housework are twice as likely to require the services of a divorce solicitor, a recent academic study has revealed, and researchers believe it may be one of the lesser considered reasons why divorce rates have risen over recent decades.

The study, for the Gender Equality Network, reviewed a cohort of 3,540 married British subjects whose first child was born in 1970. The families were re-questioned when the children reached the ages of five, 10 and 16.

By the time the eldest child of each family had left school 21 percent of the parents were divorced.

Of the families studied almost a third of the wives went out to work; 5 percent were in full time employment, and the majority of the husbands made little or no contribution to cleaning, shopping, childcare or bedtime tasks. Only 25 percent of the male partners performed three or more household or childcare duties on a regular basis.

Analysis of the research calculated that in households where the father was the sole income earner and the wife was the homemaker the probability of divorce was 3.3 percent.

However, where a mother was in paid employment the likelihood of relationship breakdown increased to 6.5 percent, but this was reduced where a father helped with household tasks – falling to a 4.5 percent chance of divorce.

Where fathers looked after children when the mother went out to work the risk of a split fell to 3.2 percent. So, the analysis concluded that if a mother went out to work and the father made a minimal contribution to household chores the risk of divorce doubled.

Dr Sigle-Rushton, a senior lecturer at the London School of Economics and author of the study, has conceded that the data, although only recently published, is now several decades old. However she says it highlights the importance of considering the relationship between men's behaviour and marital stability.

She adds that in sociological and economic research there has been too much emphasis on the paid work of women and not enough research into the division of unpaid work; and how this affects family relationships especially in terms of divorce rates.

Nurses say TV programmes contribute to rise in clinical negligence claims

2010-05-14T15:37:00.000+01:00

Patient expectations of what can be achieved at hospital are becoming unrealistic, due to the effect of television programmes such as Holby City and this has contributed to the rise in clinical negligence compensation claims, the Royal College of Nursing has been told.

An A&E nurse from Scunthorpe at the organisation's annual conference said, "In A&E it is sometimes a fact that sadly we cannot get people through the trauma they have received.

"Unfortunately, unlike in Holby City, I am a mere mortal and cannot perform miracles.

"But many relatives believe because of that, you can. And the injury lawyers assure them that, if you don't, they will get recompense for it."

Another delegate said the litigious culture meant nurses were spending more time completing paperwork, which took them away from patients and put some off from joining the profession.

She added: "Sometimes the expectations of the patient and the relatives are high and to meet those expectations with the time and resources we have available, it doesn't always match up.

"That could result in a complaint and whether you are at fault or not, you feel very, very guilty."

Figures released by the NHS showed that there were 6,080 clinical negligence claims in 2008-2009 – a rise of 10% on the previous year - and 3,743 claims of non-medical negligence both of which represent an increase on the previous year.

Taxi passenger died after cab door was left open

2010-05-13T15:34:00.000+01:00

A taxi driver who drove off with his cab door open, which led to a passenger falling from the car, has been convicted of causing death by careless driving.

The 61-year-old man told Newcastle Crown Court he had picked up the 18-year-old victim and four of his friends, who had all been drinking, then pulled off the road to allow one of them to be sick. He believed that they had all got out of the taxi at that point with the intention of not paying the fare.

However, after he drove off, the remaining man either fell or jumped out of the vehicle subsequently, causing head injuries from which he died six days later.

The jury was instructed by the judge to find the driver not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

The taxi driver will return to court at the end of May for sentencing for causing death by careless driving. In the meantime he has been issued with an interim driving ban.

Fewer motorists who use mobile phones while driving are being punished

2010-05-13T15:33:00.000+01:00

Fewer motorists who use mobile phones while driving are being punished for this motoring offence, despite a 27% rise in the number of people seen on the roads taking or making a call.

According to the Home Office annual report on police powers, 116,000 drivers were given fixed penalty notices for using a hand-held phone, which was down 30% in two years.

A separate survey published by the Department of Transport revealed the extent of continuing use of mobiles by drivers between 2008 and 2009, particularly by commercial drivers such as those of lorries and vans.

Road safety campaigners have suggested that the figures are a result of drivers flouting the law because the police are unable to enforce it.

A spokesman for the Institute of Advanced Motorists added: "There is insufficient enforcement. Drivers don't think they will get caught."

The motoring law was introduced in 2003 and penalties strengthened in 2007. Although hands-free kits are allowed, the police can bring a charge of careless driving if appropriate when a phone is used with one of these kits and there is apparent lack of control of the vehicle.

Since February 2007, someone caught using a mobile phone while driving can be fined £60 or up to £1,000 if the case is taken to court. It is also an endorseable motoring offence with three penalty points imposed on the licence.

GP telephone consultations may risk patient safety

2010-05-12T16:02:00.000+01:00

Although patients and GPs like telephone consultations, they may be more likely to fail the criteria of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to obtain sufficient information, with the possible consequences of a resulting medical negligence claim, particularly in regard to misdiagnosis.

A study by Scottish researchers found that telephone consultations were significantly shorter and involved less gathering of data, rapport building and counselling than face-to-face consultations. More than 100 recordings were evaluated in the research.

Lead researcher Dr Brian McKinstry, a researcher in general practice at the University of Edinburgh and a GP in Blackburn in Lothian, concluded, "Telephone consultations may be more safely suited to follow-up appointments and care of long-term conditions where an initial assessment and provisional diagnosis has already been made."

A number of medical negligence claims are brought each year following a telephone consultation with a GP. Allegations can relate to failure to obtain certain information from a patient prior to making a diagnosis and medical negligence claims have succeeded on this basis.

United Utilities in £136m sale of Australian subsidiary

2010-05-12T15:28:00.000+01:00

The company which supplies 7 million people in the North West with water and sewerage services, United Utilities Group plc (UU), is selling its Australian subsidiary for about £136m in a corporate finance move aimed at improving its shareholder value.

United Utilities Australia Pty Ltd is being bought by a consortium led by Mitsubishi Corporation, of Japan, and includes another Japanese company, Innovation Network Corporation, Manila Water Company Inc and JGC Corporation.

From its headquarters in Warrington, UU, which is the UK's largest listed water company, owns, operates and maintains utility assets including water, wastewater, electricity and gas. Currently, it works in Australia, the Philippines, Poland, Estonia, Bulgaria and India.

The Australian company was set up by UU in 1991 and provides water and wastewater services to 3 million people. It is also involved in project finance, design and construction upgrades and refurbishments, operation and maintenance, asset management, utility services, laboratory testing, billing and customer services.

UU has a turnover of £2billion and is a FTSE 100 company. It has already sold its stake in consortium partner Manila Water Company in the Philippines.

The corporate finance deal, which is expected to complete in the second half of 2010 and is subject to consents and regulatory approvals, will yield £106m in cash for UU and is part of its commercial strategy of disposing of non-core assets.