A boy who suffered severe head injuries as a result of a crash when he was a baby has won £3m in compensation.
Ben Eeles, from Brightlingsea, suffered the head injuries in a traffic accident on September 3 1998, when a coach crashed into the car he was travelling in on the A12 near Hopton in Norfolk.
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The accident, which also caused several fatalities, left the 12-year-old boy in need of special care and supervision for the rest of his life.
Although he suffered from a personal injury to his brain in the crash, Ben is otherwise fit and well, and able to play games and ride a bike. According to his Barrister Bill Braithwaite QC, he is a ‘delightful young chap who has a charming and loving family around him’.
However, Mr Braithwaite had said during an earlier hearing that the boy’s injuries were of the ‘utmost severity’ and meant that Ben suffers with language, concentration and has motor skills difficulties.
His mother was forced to give up her £100,000-a-year job as a company finance director to care for her son following the accident, and the family now have to rely on Ben’s father’s earnings as a self-employed boat builder.
The coach’s owners, Cobham Hire Services, had already admitted liability for the accident, but now insurers have agreed to a final settlement in the form of a substantial lump sum as well as index-linked and tax-free annual payments to cover the costs of his lifelong care needs.
Although the exact figures are confidential, his legal team had previously suggested that he would be expected to receive at least £3.25m – and the total amount of the settlement total is likely to be substantially more.