£5 million payout for cyclist brain left damaged after collision in Brighton

A cyclist who was left severely brain damaged and needing care for life after being hit by a car in Brighton has been awarded more than £5 million in damages to help with the ‘difficulties ahead’.

The father, who is aged in his forties, was said to have suffered consequences from the collision that were “absolutely devastating for his health, life expectancy, his marriage and for his family,” according to Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, who gave the ruling at London’s High Court.

Following the 2009 collision, the judge also praised his family’s ‘incredible devotion' and said that she hoped the payout would 'go some way to helping him with the difficulties ahead’.

We recently reported how Mary Bowers, the Times journalist who inspired the newspaper’s Cities Fit for Cycling campaign after she was crushed by a lorry as she rode her bike to work in November 2011, was awarded a seven-figure sum in compensation.

The money will pay for the round-the-clock care that the 31-year-old, who sustained severe injuries in the crash and suffered brain damage while she was in a coma, will need for the rest of her life, reports the Times .

In December 2012, tipper truck driver Petre Beiu was cleared of dangerous driving but convicted of careless driving in connection with the incident, which happened close to the newspaper’s then headquarters in Wapping.

The court was told that he had lied to police officers about being on a hands-free phone which had led to him being distracted as he ran over Ms Bowers as he turned left while she waited at a junction.

Beiu, who was banned from driving for eight months and also fined £2,700, had failed to engage the lorry’s handbrake and as a result the vehicle rolled back over Miss Bowers, who suffered severe injuries to her arms, chest, legs and pelvis.

She is now in a care home where she is in a “minimally conscious” state.

The settlement, confirmed at the High Court in London yesterday, will see Allianz, insurers of Lynch Haulage, the company Beiu was driving for, pay a seven-figure sum to meet her care costs.