At Irwin Mitchell, we represent individuals who have sustained life-changing injuries, writes David Withers. Some of our clients have severe brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and / or amputations arising from poly-trauma. For these individuals and their families, their lives are turned upside down. There is a range of emotions after such trauma. Without doubt, what those individuals and their families in this situation want is the possibility that, with effective rehabilitation, their quality of life can improve…
In the longer term, financial security is also a vital consideration, particularly if they are no longer able to work and have a family to support. As has been widely reported, the criminal courts are experiencing significant delays. There has been long-term under-funding. With the Covid-19 pandemic, these delays only worsened.
The Financial Times, on 23 August 2020, reported that some criminal trials are now being listed in 2022.
There were said to be 43,676 outstanding Crown Court cases. Criminal proceedings can be extremely anxiety provoking for an injured person and their family.
There is the fear of the unknown. They are often not told much about the incident circumstances for fear of prejudicing the trial. This can be very frustrating. The injured person often wants to know what happened to them as they are unlikely to have a clear recollection of events.
This anxiety can increase if criminal trials are listed years after the incident. More practically, the problem with the criminal proceedings being delayed is that, more often than not, lawyers cannot access the police evidence.
Although there are protocols in place to permit early disclosure in some circumstances, the general principle is that the civil proceedings (the personal injury case) should follow the criminal proceedings.
As a society, there is a greater importance initially placed upon bringing the suspected wrongdoer to justice than there is allowing an injured person to pursue damages through the Courts. On cases which are less than clear-cut, this can lead to extensive delays in implementing rehabilitation on a private basis or all of the reasonable recommendations made.
This means that the injured person is reliant upon state provision. If there is a delay in implementing the recommended rehabilitation, the medico-legal experts will, in all likelihood, be delayed in being able to provide a final prognosis.
This can lead to a further delay for the injured person. The delay with the criminal proceedings can also lead to a delay in accessing interim payments which are payments on account of the overall likely damages settlement.
This can place the injured person and their family in financial hardship. Strong legal teams can resolve or at least mitigate these significant problems in a number of cases.
However, the proverb “justice delayed is justice denied” is entirely fitting for a severely injured person unable to access interim funds and private rehabilitation when they need it the most. On one case which the author was involved in, a lady (anonymously referred to as AB) was involved in a road traffic collision.
She had been driving her vehicle. The driver of the other vehicle had been racing on a road. Briefly, she was attempting to turn right from a main road.
The other driver was driving at excessive speed behind her. As AB tried to turn right, the driver collided with her vehicle at high velocity.
Tragically, AB tore her carotid artery in the collision, leading to her having a life-changing stroke. She now suffers from left sided paralysis and cognitive deficits arising from the stroke and is largely wheelchair dependent.
Her condition is permanent. Fortunately, Irwin Mitchell managed to implement an extensive and bespoke rehabilitation programme whilst the criminal proceedings were ongoing. The Crown Court trial took place approximately 2 years after the incident.
As a result of the extensive rehabilitation that had taken place, the parties had been able to have a discussion about settlement before the criminal trial, which was highly unusual. Unfortunately, the Crown Prosecution Service withdrew the charge on the first day of trial. This is because the Court was of the view that the driver had been charged with the wrong offence.
The full rehabilitation team was able to get AB out of her wheelchair; she was able to walk, with support, for short distances. AB purchased and adapted a suitable property.
She is now financial protected for the remainder of her life and has provision for therapy, support and an adapted vehicle.
David Withers is a partner and solicitor-advocate at Irwin Mitchell LLP, leading a team specialising in neuro-trauma and other serious injuries such as amputations or significant poly-trauma.
