Personal injury news
31/12/2009

School paintbrush accident leads to £2.5m claim

A Scottish court, which has heard how a ten-year-old primary school pupil was left without sight in his left eye and brain injuries after a paintbrush entered his eye, is deciding on a £2.5m compensation claim for the personal injury.

The father of the boy, who is now 17, is making the injury claim against the local education authority, North Lanarkshire Council, because he says the accident should have been prevented and that, as a result of it, the youth's prospects of employment and ability to live independently have been impaired.

The accident occurred when a number of pupils were painting on sheets of paper on the classroom floor using long thin brushes with pointed ends. The head injury victim was kneeling over when a girl knocked him onto a brush being held by a third pupil, which entered his left eye, penetrating his brain.

Representatives of North Lanarkshire Council say it was not foreseeable for such a serious personal injury accident to occur. The Court of Session in Edinburgh will announce its decision on the compensation claim at a later date.