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Update: Florist in petal slip case fears bankruptcy
A Wimbledon florist has slammed the verdict of a High Court appeal after her company was found negligent when a commuter slipped on a petal.
Bella Patel's store, Chiltern Flowers, was told last July it would have to pay damages to Brian Piccolo, who fell after stepping on the yellow petal in March 2003, when it was based in Marylebone train station.
Yesterday the High Court ruled the mum-of-four's store, which she runs with her husband, was negligent for not having a system in place to deal with the danger of fallen petals.
The florists' lawyers had asked the Court of Appeal for permission to challenge a ruling that neither Mr Piccolo, from Witham, Essex, nor the shop's landlord should bear part liability.
But the court heard that in the past the shop's landlord, Chiltern Railway Company, had said it must keep its frontage clean or risk its concourse licence being revoked.
Lady Justice Smith stated there was no reason why Mr Piccolo, 51, should have been looking down at his feet to avoid slipping on petals.
"Of course I'm not happy about the decision - it's ridiculous how the ruling goes in this country," said 46-year-old Mrs Patel, who is planning to appeal again against the judgement. "I thought that at least the justice system should be a bit sympathetic.
"He's not in a wheelchair or anything and he weighs about 50 stone so must have had strains on his health which weren't just caused by slipping on a petal."
| "We couldn’t afford to pay that sort of money – we’d go bankrupt." | | Bella Patel |
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She said all traders in Marylebone station are routinely told by the landlord to be clean and keep shop fronts clear, and denied that her florist had been singled out.
While the amount of damages has not been decided by the court, Mrs Patel said there had been reports it could reach £1.5m.
"We couldn't afford to pay that sort of money - we'd go bankrupt," she explained. "I'm hoping he won't get so much compensation - for somebody like that to get so much is ridiculous.
"I understand people have to be compensated for injuries but where is the system going when you award somebody that much money who can walk, when someone who has lost an arm and a leg fighting in a war gets a smaller amount?"
Mrs Patel also claims there is no CCTV footage showing Mr Piccolo falling on the petal.
As a result of the case the store's tenancy was not renewed at Marylebone station and it had to move to a location in Victoria a couple of months ago instead.
"The business is not as good as it was in Marylebone, where we had built it up for about 18 years," she said. "People have heard about the court case and that has absolutely harmed our reputation."
2:13pm Tuesday 20th May 2008
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CommentPosted by: Ricky, Sheen on 5:27pm Tue 20 May 08
I bet the commuter came up smelling of roses!!
I bet the commuter came up smelling of roses!!
Posted by: John Smith, Wimbledon on 8:43pm Tue 20 May 08
This is a joke, they could not help falling petals, if they spent all there time sweeping up falling petals they wouldnt have time to sell flowers - what do we pay cleaning staff to do,surely if they were paying rent etc at the station then they should be covered by some kind of insurance! i bet that commuter is another person now taking our taxes on the sick list! disgrace!
This is a joke, they could not help falling petals, if they spent all there time sweeping up falling petals they wouldnt have time to sell flowers - what do we pay cleaning staff to do,surely if they were paying rent etc at the station then they should be covered by some kind of insurance! i bet that commuter is another person now taking our taxes on the sick list! disgrace!
Posted by: R, Wimbledon on 8:22am Thu 22 May 08
Its another case of suing for the hell of it.
Its another case of suing for the hell of it.
Posted by: Jonathan, motspur park on 1:11pm Thu 22 May 08
Its not a question of the seller warning [italic]every[/italic] customer. Unfortunately, no customer warning sign is due to no risk assessment, therefore negligence.. the real question is, on whose part? Surely it is the responsibility of the station operator..
Its not a question of the seller warning
every customer. Unfortunately, no customer warning sign is due to no risk assessment, therefore negligence.. the real question is, on whose part? Surely it is the responsibility of the station operator..
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