Pages On: Wrongful & Accidental Death

Fatal Accident Claims in Birmingham

Posted in: Personal Injury, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Losing a loved one is hard enough, but when it’s at the hands of a negligent party, grief turns to anger, confusion, and stress. When people important to you suffer a Fatal Accident, the consequences don’t end with them, they ripple across the whole family. Accidental deaths put a significant strain on the emotional and financial health of the entire family. Trying to hold those responsible to account can be almost impossible while trying to cope with losing another breadwinner, and/or suffering psychiatric distress from the death. This is where…

Medical blunder results in tragic death

Posted: 15 March 2016

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

An inquest being held in North London Coroners’ Court has heard that a series of neglectful errors at Northwick Park Hospital resulted in the death of an 85-year-old grandmother on 7 May 2015.  Irmgard Cooper had been undergoing a serious but successful heart procedure at the hospital when it was discovered that her blood supplies had been sent back to the blood bank by mistake.  The surgeon was not made aware of the error and had begun to operate on Mrs Cooper. It was during the operation that the surgeon…

Paramedic guilty of misconduct

Posted: 7 March 2016

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A health professional panel has found paramedic Andrew Davies guilty of misconduct for failing to go to the aid of a man with health difficulties in June 2012. The Health and Care Professions Council panel heard how Davies had stood by and watched while Mr Carl Cope, 47, took ill in Walsall Manor Hospital car park. Mr Cope later died of a heart attack. Four further members of clinical staff were also charged with failure to care for a patient in need. West Midlands Ambulance Service, Davies’ employer, had dismissed the worker for…

Man killed in care home fire

Posted: 2 March 2016

Posted in: Public Place Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Following a 999 call to Derbyshire Police at around 1300 hours on Monday, an investigation into the death of a 60-year-old man is being carried out on behalf of the coroner. The fire service was called to the Sherwood Forest Care Home in Derby after a patient at the home was found burning to death in his wheelchair outside the building. The investigation has revealed that the man probably caught fire due to “discarded smoking materials” at the home. It is understood that the resident had gone outside to have a cigarette in…

Woman dies from hospital-contracted Legionnaires

Posted: 15 February 2016

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Negligent Cancer Diagnosis, Wrongful & Accidental Death

68-year-old Terry Brooks, from Bath, died from Legionnaire’s disease contracted at the Royal United Hospital in July of last year, an inquest has heard. The inquest also heard that due to failings in the hospital’s system, the contamination had not been detected. The disease, which flourishes in water systems that are not kept hot or cold enough, is caused by the Legionella bacteria. Public Health England, tested the water supplies at the William Budd ward of the hospital, as well as supplies at three other homes that Mr Brooks had visited during the…

12-month old’s life could have been saved

Posted: 30 January 2016

Posted in: Medical Negligence, NHS Claims, Wrongful & Accidental Death

An NHS England report has stated that the life of 12-month-old William Mead from Cornwall could have been saved if he had received better medical care.  Both GPs and call handlers from NHS 111 failed to recognise that he was suffering from sepsis (blood poisoning) following a chest infection.  This has raised doubts about the efficacy of England’s out-of-hours helpline which uses advisors, who are not medically trained, inputting information to a computer system.  It states that if a medic had taken the emergency call it is possible that the…

Crane hire company fined over death

Posted: 28 December 2015

Posted in: Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A crane hire company has been fined after one of its employees was killed in a crash. Baldwins Crane Hire was fined £700,000 after 49-year-old Lindsay Easton was killed while driving a crane at Scout Moor quarry in Lancashire when the brakes failed. The incident happened in 2011, with an investigation finding that several of the crane’s wheel brakes were damaged or inoperable, “providing only limited braking force”. Mr Easton, from Sowerby Bridge in Yorkshire, had been driving the 130-tonne crane on a steep slope before losing control and crashing…

Young girl with ‘catastrophic injuries’ dies in hospital

Posted: 20 October 2015

Posted in: Car Accidents, Road Traffic Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A young girl that was severely injured in a car accident in 2006 has recently died in hospital; just weeks before she was due to turn ten. Cerys Edwards was only one-year-old when the car she and her family were travelling in collided with a speeding Range Rover Sport. The accident happened when they were driving home from delivering Christmas presents in November 2006. The son of a local millionaire was driving the Range Rover at the time of the crash, 19-year-old Antonio Boparan. It was heard that he was…

Malnourishment misdiagnosis causes death

Posted: 28 July 2015

Posted in: Head and Brain Injuries, Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

The mother of Kayleigh Compton, who died from a brain injury as a result of undiagnosed malnourishment, has released photographs of her dying daughter in hospital. The 23-year-old had visited her GP following very rapid weight loss, before finally being admitted to hospital after dropping from ten stone to six stone in six months. It was heard that every time she attempted to eat, she was sick. After doctors carried out a number of tests, they were unable to find the cause of her weight loss. An independent review found…

Hospital ‘failed’ vulnerable patient

Posted: 1 April 2015

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

An investigation into the death of a 95-year-old woman who fell ill in hospital was ‘failed’ by her health trust. It was uncovered that Monica Bridle fell between her bed and the wall of her room at the University Hospital Southampton in 2013, but staff failed to inform her family. Following the incident, Mrs Bridle was discharged from hospital and returned to her nursing home, which hospital staff also failed to inform her family about.  The hospital said it had “unreservedly apologised” to Mrs Bridle’s family. Mrs Bridle’s son had…

Unrequested DNR notice caused death

Posted: 19 March 2015

Posted in: Medical Negligence, NHS Claims, Wrongful & Accidental Death

An inquest has heard that NHS staff “played God” when they put a ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ (DNR) notice on an elderly man before he died, despite the fact that he did not request one. 66-year-old great grandfather Michael Richardson, from Great Yarmouth, died in James Paget University Hospital, Gorleston, in 2013.  He had been diagnosed with a lung condition and was only given an estimated one year to live. His widow, 65-year-old Janet Richardson, accused NHS staff of playing God after she discovered that they had placed a DNR notice…

Failings responsible for 11 baby deaths

Posted: 3 March 2015

Posted in: Birth Injury, Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

An inquiry has concluded that the deaths of 11 babies could have been prevented had it not been for a “lethal mix” of failures at a Cumbrian hospital. An investigation into Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust found that a total of 20 different failings contributed to the deaths of 11 babies at Furness General Hospital between 2004 and 2013. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt described the findings as “a second Mid Staffs” in the House of Commons. The report stated that the highlighted failings represented the inadequacy of “a great many…

Serious errors in boy’s heart surgery

Posted: 2 February 2015

Posted in: Head and Brain Injuries, Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

The family of a boy who died after serious errors were made during his heart surgery seeks answers. 11-year-old Bradley Brough, from York, died in 2010 after undergoing three operations in two days at Leeds General Infirmary. Bradley suffered with a complex congenital heart defect that required him to undergo an operation to divert the flow of blood in his heart. However, despite three operations, he died after suffering a bleed to the brain. A letter that was composed by the hospital trust admitted that errors were made during his…

Care home fined following radiator death

Posted: 25 January 2015

Posted in: Leg Injuries, Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A care home in Leicester has been fined after one of its residents died after becoming trapped between a wardrobe and a radiator. The Western Park View home is being fined £100,000 after 85-year-old Walter Powley died of severe burns. The accident happened after Mr Powley fell, causing him to get trapped between a wardrobe and a radiator, where the piping and valves were uncovered. He died in hospital eight days after the accident. During a hearing at Leicester Crown Court, based in Wolverhampton, Western Park Leicester pleaded guilty to…

Coal mining museum fined over death

Posted: 18 December 2014

Posted in: Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Two mining firms and a museum trust have been fined after a man was crushed to death by a dumper truck. 58-year-old Michael Buckingham, from Grimethorpe, had been operating the dumper truck to move waste as part of a £2.7million project to expand the area open to underground tours at the museum. He died in January 2011. The company that supplied the truck, Metal Innovations Ltd, was fined £190,000 after the judge discovered that they had failed to ensure that the vehicle was safe for use.  The contractors, Amalgamated Construction…

Ambulance service blamed for death

Posted: 19 September 2014

Posted in: Medical Negligence, NHS Claims, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Ambulance “cutbacks” have been blamed for the death of 73-year-old grandmother Sonia Powell.  Mrs Powell was forced to wait in an hour-long ambulance queue despite having suffered a suspected heart attack.  She died in the ambulance queue outside Morriston Hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Mrs Powell’s family has blamed NHS cutbacks for her death. Her granddaughter, Kim Thompson, said that her grandmother had originally been admitted to Neath Port Talbot Hospital on Monday, but was being transferred to the cardiac unit at Morriston Hospital after having, what was believed to be,…

Man dies in swimming event

Posted: 24 June 2014

Posted in: Public Place Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A man has died taking part in a swimming event on Lake Windermere on Friday 13 June.  He had been competing in the Great North Swim in the Lake District when he suffered a “medical emergency” and was taken to a nearby hospital by air ambulance.  The 52-year-old from Wallington, south London, died shortly after reaching the hospital. The Great North Swim is a three-day event and is one of the several open-water swimming festivals that takes place throughout the country.  Those who enter can choose to swim several different…

AKI killing 1,000 patients every month

Posted: 24 April 2014

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

According to a newly published report commissioned by the NHS, around 1,000 NHS patients are dying from an acute kidney injury every month.  Known as ‘Acute Kidney Injury’ (AKI), the people affected tend to be the most vulnerable hospital patients. AKI is acquired through a lack of basic care, with most patients developing the illness through dehydration. The report referred to the death toll as “completely unacceptable”. The report drew attention to the fact that more people are dying from preventable illnesses today than at the height of the hospital bug…

Hospital admits failings over death

Posted: 5 April 2014

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Two NHS trusts have admitted to failings that resulted in the death of 34-year-old Simon Willson.  The father of two was found hanging in a hospital toilet after being transferred out of A&E – having waited four hours – without being seen by a mental health professional. It was found that this was in an attempt to meet the hospital’s targets. Mr Willson was admitted to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital in January 2010 after taking a serious drug overdose. He was first referred to Canterbury’s mental health services –…

Four-year fight for compensation sees success

Posted: 9 March 2014

Posted in: Accidents and Sickness Abroad, Head and Brain Injuries, Pedestrian Injuries, Road Traffic Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

An Essex family has finally been awarded with compensation following an accident that happened in 2010.  Martin Vann and his wife had been on holiday in Vilamoura in the Algarve when a speeding driver hit them while crossing the road to return to their car. Mr Vann, from Westcliffe-on-Sea near Southend, died after the accident and his wife was left with serious injuries. Their children have been fighting for compensation ever since. The couple had been on holiday with their son Alex Vann and their daughter Julia Plappert, and their partners,…

College fined over girl’s death

Posted: 14 February 2014

Posted in: Neck Injuries, Public Place Accidents, School Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

York College has been fined £175,000 after a 3-year-old girl died on her first full day at the college’s nursery. The college has been fined for health and safety breaches after Lydia Bishop got her neck caught in a rope on an outdoor slide at York College’s nursery in 2012. The college denied charges, but was finally convicted last week for failing to ensure child safety between August and September 2012. Lydia died at her first full day of nursery when she became caught in a rope that was intended for…

Safety measures improved where British woman died in US hospital

Posted: 27 January 2014

Posted in: Accidents and Sickness Abroad, Medical Negligence, Public Place Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

After a British woman was discovered dead at the bottom of a stairwell in San Francisco General Hospital last October, an investigation has recognised a dramatic improvement in safety measures. Lynne Spalding, from Haswell in County Durham, had been missing for seventeen days before she was found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs only yards away from her bed.  The hospital was searched and the Police opened a missing person investigation. It was later discovered that Sheriff Department deputies had failed to search in stairways. Health inspectors,…

Esso fined for sailor death

Posted: 17 December 2013

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Faulty Work Equipment, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Esso has been fined £100,000 after a member of staff was crushed to death under a fuel hose, an accident described as “wholly avoidable”. The company has admitted to health and safety failings and has been ordered to pay an additional £50,000 in costs.  40-year-old Juan Romero died in August 2008 when a corroded bolt gave way, allowing a pipe and its crane to fall and crush the worker at Fawley marine terminal in Southampton. The seaman, originally from Honduras, had been working on board the docked ship when the accident…

Holiday company fined £20,000 over young girl’s death

Posted: 30 November 2013

Posted in: Gym & Leisure Centre Injuries, Public Place Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A Flintshire-based holiday company has been fined £20,000 after a 7-year-old girl got into some difficulty and drowned in the facility’s swimming pool.  Seojin Kim, from Birmingham, had been on holiday with her family at Talacre Beach Caravan and Leisure Park in October 2010 when the accident happened.  The former owners of the leisure site, Plas Coch Holiday Homes, admitted to safety breaches in 2012 and were also ordered to pay £32,000 costs.     Despite admitting to a lack of risk assessment surrounding the operation of the swimming pool,…

Fifth cyclist death in only a matter of days

Posted: 14 November 2013

Posted in: Bicycle Accidents, Bus Accidents, Road Traffic Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

After a crash occurred between a cyclist and a bus at a junction yesterday morning, London’s roads have seen their fifth cyclist death in only nine days. The crash happened in the early hours of the morning at a junction between Whitechapel High Street and Commercial Road.  The man was immediately rushed to hospital but died only a matter of hours later. The frequency of cyclists being injured, or even killed, on London’s roads is raising great concern.  Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg had called for cycling-highways to be designed in…

Hospital doctors signed elderly woman’s ‘death warrant’

Posted: 5 November 2013

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

After 79-year-old June Brook was admitted to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital with sickness and diarroea last month, doctors at the hospital signed a ‘do not resuscitate’ order without the approval of her or her family. During her stay, it was granted by doctors that if her condition worsened, it would be a case of allowing her to die.  Paperwork stating that the order had been issued due to her family not being present was discovered in Mrs Brook’s handbag after she had been discharged from the hospital. The order found…

Firm guilty over go-kart death failings

Posted: 27 October 2013

Posted in: Neck Injuries, Public Place Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

18-year-old Suzanne Cornwell lost her life in 2009 when her scarf became tangled in the axle of her go-kart – the company in charge has pleaded guilty to health and safety failings. The teenager from Hardwick had been with friends at Cambridgeshire raceway when the accident occurred in December 2009. Both the company in charge, Peterborough Raceway Ltd, and the manager at the time, Paul Shinn, have both pleaded guilty to breaches of health and safety. The accident occurred when Miss Cornwell attended an ‘out-of-hours’ go-karting session with friends on the…

Child died because nurse used ‘too much force’

Posted: 15 October 2013

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

10-year-old Pheobe Willis from Locking in North Somerset had been submitted to Westo General Hospital with a rare genetic condition in the summer of 2012, but died after a nurse “inserted her feeding tube with too much force”. Pheobe Willis’ family took her to Weston General Hospital after taking advice that the hospital had a specialist nurse for their daughter’s condition. She was treated by this nurse for her cystinosis on the 24th of August 2012, but then became severely ill and died of peritonitis two days later at Bristol’s Children Hospital.…

Hospital trust fined following death of diabetic patient

Posted: 9 October 2013

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

The Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust has pleaded guilty to safety breaches after a diabetic patient died in 2007.  Gillian Astbury (66), from Hednesford in Staffordshire, died at Stafford Hospital after two nurses failed to provide her with insulin, causing her to fall into a diabetic coma.  The Nursing and Midwifery Council panel cautioned one of the nurses responsible, Jeannette Coulson, yet Ann King was struck off completely after both were found guilty of misconduct. The Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust now faces a large fine after pleading guilty to failures in…

Woman ‘died in squalor’ at Redditch hospital

Posted: 29 August 2013

Posted in: Medical Negligence, Negligent Cancer Diagnosis, Wrongful & Accidental Death

After doctors at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch misdiagnosed Sandra Aston’s cancer as pneumonia, her daughter described the way in which she was treated as “worse than an animal”.  The daughter of 79-year-old Mrs Aston, Tracey Holmes from Evesham, said that her mother had been left in her room “cold and desperate, with bleeding cracked lips”. The hospital have apologised for their “unsatisfactory” standards of care, saying they are “deeply sorry”.  Mrs Holmes, however, described this apology as “pathetic”.   She provided examples of the hospital’s lack of care for her…

Car firm fined following a death at Cheshire plant

Posted: 14 August 2013

Posted in: Faulty Work Equipment, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A Vauxhall parent company has been fined £150,000 for their failure to comply with health and safety regulations – resulting in the tragic death of a member of their staff.  Ian Heard (59) was crushed to death at the Cheshire car plant in July 2010 after having worked for the company for 43 years. Mr. Heard was caught in the machinery when working in the Ellesmere-based plant three years ago.  Mr. Heard, originally from Birkenhead, was taken to a hospital in Chester, where he died eleven days after the accident. …

Recent deaths in the River Thames cause concern

Posted: 11 August 2013

Posted in: Personal Injury, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Berkshire fire and rescue service have described the recent number of people dying in UK rivers as “worryingly high”.  One largely contributing factor has been the high temperatures experienced in the UK over the summer months, with people spending more time outside and cooling down by swimming in open waters. Recent deaths included a 12-year-old boy The last month has seen five deaths. The body of a 12-year-old boy was found after he got into difficulty swimming in the Jubilee River in Cippenham, Slough, on the 31st of July.  Wednesday also…

Too many goods and passenger transport deaths

Posted: 25 April 2013

Posted in: Bicycle Accidents, Public Transport, Road Traffic Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has warned that, despite a drop in the number of people who are killed in accidents involving goods and passenger transport vehicles in the EU, the numbers are still far too high. Statistics show that, out of the total number of 30,239 road deaths recorded across the EU in 2011, 4,254 people lost their lives in collisions involving heavy goods vehicles, 3,999 in collisions with light goods vehicles and 722 in collisions involving buses or coaches. Car occupants accounted for half of the people…

Companies fined after driver dies in roadworks

Posted: 26 February 2013

Posted in: Road Traffic Accidents, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Two companies have been ordered to pay a total of £650,000 in fines and costs after a member of the public was killed in a collision in roadworks on the A50 near Uttoxeter. William Collins was driving along the westbound carriageway at around 4am on 25th November 2007 when he failed to negotiate a bend at a road closure and collided with a stationary flatbed lorry owned by the company responsible for the traffic management associated with the works. The father of two died at the scene from multiple injuries.…

Companies sentenced after worker's fatal fall

Posted: 30 November 2012

Posted in: Employer Negligence, Falls from Heights, Head and Brain Injuries, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death

A major construction company and a concrete structures firm have been sentenced after a worker died following a fall from a height at a Swansea building site. A self-employed father of two, Russell Samuel, was contracted to work as a scaffolder at the Swansea site. He was dismantling a scaffold ladder access platform ready for the installation of the roof and staircase on the fourth floor, when he fell approximately 19 metres to the ground below, narrowly missing a carpenter who was working directly below. Mr Samuel suffered multiple injuries…