Big payout for hit-and-run victim

A Dudley man, left with shocking brain injuries by "wild and outrageous" driving by an uninsured hit-and-run driver, was today guaranteed a massive compensation payout.

Former foundry worker Kelvin Daw, now aged 32, was left disabled after being knocked down outside the Bull's Head pub in Brierley Hill in 2004.

At the High Court it was decided Mr Daw, who also worked as a barman, would be awarded sufficient compensation to pay for his future care.

Mr Daw, of Cedar Road, Dudley, was hit by Kristian Boyne who was sentenced to three years in jail by Wolverhampton Crown Court in December 2004.

Mr Justice Nelson told the High Court in London yesterday that the precise circumstances of the accident remained unclear.

Mr Daw's legal team led by Richard Davies QC argued that the most likely scenario was that he was hit by the car after placing a bench in the road in a bid to stop Boyne's reckless antics.

The court was told that "in response to the wild and outrageous driving" of Boyne Mr Daw dragged the bench on to the road "to impede his progress in speeding up and down the road."

Mr Daw's lawyers accepted that he had to bear some responsibility for his own injuries and that was agreed at 22.5 per cent in a settlement approved by the judge.

The amount of Mr Daw's damages payout has yet to be assessed but, given the gravity of his injuries, he is likely to be due a seven-figure sum even after the deduction, to cover the enormous costs of his future care.

Because Boyne, in his 20s, of Schofield Avenue, West Bromwich, was not insured to drive the car, Mr Daw's damages will be paid by the Motor Insurers Bureau, an industry body which steps in to compensate victims of uninsured drivers.

Mr Daw, who sued through his father, Tom Daw, of Turney Road, Stourbridge, suffered devastating disabilities in the accident. In a life-saving operation he had part of his skull removed, has lost much of his memory and can hardly walk.