£1 million awarded to boy after playground accident

11:12am Friday 18th October 2002

A TEENAGER who needs a lifetime of medical help following a freak school playground accident, has received £1 million compensation from Buckinghamshire County Council.

Simon Gates, now 18, suffered a fractured skull and brain damage when he tripped over a three-inch-deep hole in the playground at Greenway County First School, Chesham, in 1992.

At London's High Court on Tuesday, his family accepted the council's settlement offer, four years after an original compensation payout was complicated by medical evidence which suggested Simon was already ill at the time.

The court heard how Simon, of Reynolds Walk, Chesham, was just seven when the accident left him partially paralysed down his left side.

Simon Carr, counsel for Simon, explained how injuries had rendered "Gates' left arm useless," and suffering "very significant cognitive impairment affecting almost every aspect of his life."

Mr Carr said: "Simon has very limited language and literacy skills and will need 24-hour care and supervision for the rest of his life."

He said Simon would probably have to live at home until he was 35, under his parents' supervision, but as they grew too old to care for him, he would need institutional care.

Although the county council was found liable to pay compensation in 1998, the picture was complicated by evidence suggesting Simon had, unbeknown to anyone at the time, already developed cerebral palsy.

The family accepted the council's offer to settle the claim, and commended it for its co-operation. Justice Simon, presiding, approved the settlement saying it would avoid stressful litigation and provide for Simon's care.

Kathie Webber, the county council's leading spokeswoman for schools, said safety at the school was reviewed after the accident. The area was grassed over and fences and rails were installed.