Man ‘Accidentaly’ Shot In Groin With Police Taser

A report has recently been released in the media about an incident in which a man was accidentally shot in the groin with a Taser by a Police Officer.

This painful incident occurred on Tuesday 13th July 2010 when 49 year old Peter Cox from Somerset was stopped by police whilst driving his BMW motor car on suspicion of driving without insurance, a suspicion which later proved to be unfounded. Mr. Cox saw the Police car approaching in his rear view mirror and promptly pulled over outside of his friend’s house. Upon exiting the vehicle he was immediately confronted by a Police officer pointing a Taser stun weapon at him and although the officer promptly lowered the weapon, it discharged as he did so and it hit Mr. Cox in the groin and ankle, shocking him with 50,000 volts in the process.

The Taser narrowly missed the man’s genitals, knocked Mr. Cox to the ground and he had to be treated by paramedics. Mr. Cox suffers from Guillain Barre Syndrome which attacks the nervous system but he said that the pain he experienced from the Taser was worse than anything he had experienced before. He said “as soon as it was done the officer came running up to me apologizing and said it was an accidental discharge. It was dreadful. The pain was unbelievable. It was the worst pain I’d ever felt.”
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Pop Star Saddened After Stage Hand Falls To Death

Reports have recently emerged in the media about the death of a stage hand who fell to his death on Thursday 15th July 2010 whilst working at a Will Young concert at Rochester Castle in Kent.

The as yet unnamed 40 year old ‘roadie’ was helping to prepare for the stars open-air show when he plunged off the stage to his death. It is understood that the man, who reportedly suffered severe facial and head injuries, was rushed to Medway Maritime Hospital by South East Coast Ambulance Service but they were unable to save his life and he was pronounced dead on arrival after going into cardiac arrest. A spokesperson for the ambulance service gave the following statement:

“We got called to Rochester Castle to a report of a man in his 40s who had apparently fallen off the stage and had severe facial and head injuries and severe bleeding. We were on the scene within six minutes. The patient was going into cardiac arrest and he was conveyed to the Medway Maritime Hospital. We pre-alerted the hospital of his arrival, which suggests he was in quite a bad way.”
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Slip And Trips To The Extreme

There are dangers all around us and as long as we are aware of them, sometimes they can be avoided. The most common place where accidents are likely to occur is in the workplace. We all know that accidents happen from time to time but it is the duty of your employer to ensure that the hazards and accidents are kept to a minimum.

As reported on www.safeworkers.co.uk a THIRD of all accidents in the workplace, in the UK are as a result of someone slipping on something or falling over something. This often occurs when floors aren’t cleaned properly or spillages are not reported, or when obstacles are left on the floor unattended and unmarked.
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You May Have A Claim Despite What You Think

A lot of people don’t want to call Solicitors as they feel their injuries perhaps aren’t significant or worth a lot of money, when in actual fact it’s likely they are!! Hundreds of people are missing out on thousands of pounds by putting up with their injuries and just simply accepting that “these things happen”. Well, these things shouldn’t happen and you certainly shouldn’t suffer as a result.

An amazing example of this is one woman from America took out a Law Suit against McDonalds after spilling her cup of coffee onto her lap and burning herself. She wanted McDonalds to pay for her medical bills too. When McDonalds offered her $800 she said that this was crazy considering how the coffee was “unreasonably dangerous”. Amazingly, a jury awarded her $2.9 MILLION dollars!!!!! This was appealed and a judged reduced this to $640,000. As a result of this law suit, McDonalds have reduced the temperature of their coffee sold to 60-70 degrees to ensure this is of a “safer temperature”.

I am in no way saying that this ladies injury isn’t significant but just think how much this lady was awarded for a simple spill of coffee. I have spoken to people who have suffered more extensive injuries but don’t feel they should call anyone as their not sure if a claim is there. It’s free to call most reputable Independent Law Firms to see if you are entitled to compensation, so what have you got to lose?
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Bouncy Castle accident risks and claims

Summer is finally here and we are all enjoying the recent hot weather and hoping that this is going to last throughout July, August and beyond. With the 6 weeks school holidays fast approaching I’m sure many people will be looking at ways to entertain their children and one popular way in which to do this would be to hire a bouncy castle, particularly for summer birthday parties.

However due to the nature of bouncy castles there is always risk of injury and it is important that parents and guardians who are thinking of hiring these types of inflatables do properly think of the risks involved and be aware of the required level of care and supervision.
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The importance of taking a full drug history

Whenever you are seen by a medical practitioner, you should always make sure that the practitioner is aware of any drugs that you may be taking which could effect the treatment you are given. If this is not done, it could have devastating effects.

In one case reported in May 2010 by the Medical Protection Society, a 30-year old seemingly fit and healthy looking male was actually being treated with an immunosuppressive for his rheumatoid arthritis. Unrelated to this, he attended the A&E department of his local hospital with symptoms of an itchy rash and a general lack of energy.

The junior doctor who saw the patient recognised the rash as chicken pox and noted that he had not suffered with this common disease in his childhood. The doctor informed the patient of his diagnosis and advised him to stay at home and take paracetamol and use calamine lotion to reduce the itch. At no point did he check what prescription medications the patient may be taking.
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Dangers of Social Networking

As we all know Social Networking Sites are one of the Internets most trafficked places in order to contact friends, family and to meet new people, but just how many people are aware of the dangers and incidents that these types of sites can and have caused?

As specialist Personal Injury Lawyers we deal with all kinds of Personal Injury claims. One type of claim we deal with is CICA claims, also known as Criminal Injury Compensation Association claims. These types of claims are for victims of assault, shootings, attacks and many other violent acts.

A lot of us don’t realise what kind of issues can be caused by Facebook. A recent story from the Independent reads; “A 16-year-old boy who fatally stabbed a former friend over a “loss of face” after they traded insults on Facebook was detained for at least 14 years today.” source
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20-Year Old Medical Negligence – Claimable?

Any personal injury lawyer will tell you that a claimant has only 3 years to bring a claim to court. If it is not brought within this time, the claim is barred from being brought at court.

However, this time limit does not necessarily run from the time when the negligence claimed for actually occurred. The time actually runs from the date of the cause of the action or from the date of knowledge of the negligence, whichever is the later. In cases such as car crash claims, this distinction is not often important as those involved in the accident are usually aware of it as soon as it occurs. However, this can be a very important distinction in cases of medical negligence where you may be unaware of your doctor’s negligence for some time.
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Surgeons Failing to Adequately Check for Pregnancy

According to a latest report from the BBC (source) the recent National Patient Safety Agency figures indicate that women are not being checked for pregnancy before ongoing surgery. The figures reported show that there have been 42 serious incidents between 2003 and 2009 as a result of surgery on a patient where the surgeons were unaware that the patient was pregnant. Three of these reported incidents sadly culminated in miscarriage. 

Under national guidelines, medical practitioners must always check with the patient whether there is a chance that she may be pregnant before she undergoes surgery, and particularly if that surgery is to the abdomen or the pelvis.

Surgery in the early stages of pregnancy is very risky to the developing foetus and therefore it is vitally important that the surgeon is aware of any early pregnancy. If the surgeon is aware of the patient’s pregnancy then they may be able to make some changes to their plans to limit any risks to the patient or the foetus. The surgery may be delayed or they may be able to change the type of procedure or the anesthetic used to make the surgery less risky.
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Accident At Work Claims Becoming More Frequent

An accident at work can happen more frequently than many of us realise and people need to be aware of the dangers surrounding them.

Particularly employees who work for manufacturing companies with large machinery, as they are more susceptible to injury. A prime example of this is one gentleman who recently lost 4 of his fingers according to “The Claim Connection Website”.

The incident tells us that the gentleman in question was working with a colleague on some machinery which was used to cut plastic. The plastic became jammed in the machine and the gentleman thought his colleague had switched off the machine so he put his hand inside to free the piece of plastic and the guillotine cutter came down and severed four of his fingers.
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