Where will it all end

[Ray B]

Have you done a Risk Assessment at your home or work, then you may need to do one before calling the Police after a letter to a victim of a robbery at his filling station was told he was being sued after an officer tirpped and fell over a kerb.
The officer is claiming £50,000 after she tripped and injured her leg and wrist after attending a break in at the filling station in Thetford.
The kerb is a standard kerb you will see all over the place and has been there for years with no problem. So what is safe and what is not?
When you step out of your front door , look around, every where there is a claim just waiting to happen.

Ray

[Serendipity]

She is a disgrace to the police force.

[Boris+]

When I first saw this on tv, I couldn't help but wonder - is the kerb in place (as it is and where it is) due to something to do with the original planning being granted for the premises? Is the kerb in question in place so that in the event of any major spillage the residential properties situated at the rear of the filling station are protected a bit?

I do think very poorly of this woman - it is a properly constructed kerb, perfectly visible, and possibly used by many thousands of people per annum quite safely.

Em

[oldbluefox]

There's no such thing as 'pick your feet up and stop being clumsy' any more. And accidents don't happen any more. Somebody, anybody has to be blamed and compensation has to be paid. What a ridiculous world we have created.
It always amuses me when people are interviewed and they say, 'It's not the money. I just don't want anyone to go through what I've been through'. If that is the case I wonder if they give the money to charity?

[Mervyn and Trish]

If she's too daft to look where she's going and use a torch if it's dark perhaps she shouldn't be in the police in the first place. It doesn't inspire confidence. Perhaps just as well she didn't find the intruder. He might have scared her and then he'd have got sued too.

[Manoverboard]

She will drop the claim and the Chief Constable will arrange for her not to do any more night shifts yet keep the allowance as though she still does ...

[Mervyn and Trish]

The locals will probably sleep safer knowing she's not on duty!

[Dark Knight]

to be honest, if I were her boss, I would be dusgusted at her claiming compo and suggest she either drops the suit or donates any compo to the police charity

it would be a very very strong suggestion, with the emphasis on the former and a career on nights if she went ahead
it is shameful we are this type of culture now

[oldbluefox]

I suspect there is a no win, no fee lawyer somewhere in the loop. In some cases they are fully justified but all too often they go fishing for business.

[Ray B]

Two snippets from the the press , the boss is not happy-

Yesterday, she was criticised by Norfolk’s Chief Constable Phil Gormley, who said: “In twenty-seven-and-a-half years [of policing] I have never heard of this sort of claim before.

“To a man and woman, the staff in this Constabulary understand the risks [of the job]. All of that good work is being undone.

“It is not an action that we are supporting in any way, shape or form. This sort of claim does not represent the attitude of our staff

This has all come about after the PC took legal advise.

“She took legal advice as to how she could claim back some of her lost earnings as a result of the injury, and at this stage no formal proceedings have taken place.”

Her claim for compensation was passed on to the national police federation by the Norfolk branch.

The national organisation then moved the claim on to London legal firm Pattinson Brewer, who sent a letter to Mr Jones last Tuesday claiming he was responsible for the fall as the area was badly lit and there were no warning signs about the kerb.

The solicitors will now decide whether to continue with the claim.

She did not know it would blow up as it has done.

Ray

[mavismumakrill]

Good job the intruder didn't have a gun and shoot her in the arm or something. How much would she be claiming then for the owner having put her into a dangerous situation where she was shot!!!!! That poor man had a kerb that looked as though it had been there donkey's years, asked for help from the people who are supposed to be there to assist and protect, and has the worry about being made bankrupt if the case goes ahead. Never mind the money going to charity. The case should be stopped before it costs the country more and more money. We are in a bad enough state at the moment in this country. However, I wouldn't like to live anywhere else....

These are my opinions only.

Mavis x

[Quizzical Bob]

If she can't avoid a step without falling over it then she's no good as a policewoman.

[Ray B]

How did the story end.

The police officer who was injured on a 999 call was going to make a civil claim against the owner of a filling station, but yesterday she decided to withdraw the claim, with the Police Federation stating that the case raised wider issues about the police.
Pc Jones was attending a call to a suspected break-in on August 25 last year when she tripped on a kerb at the petrol station, injuring her left leg and right wrist. The claim said the area was not sufficiently lit and that Mr Jones had made no attempt to warn Pc Jones about the kerb..

Ray

[emjay45]

There's no such thing as 'pick your feet up and stop being clumsy' any more. And accidents don't happen any more. Somebody, anybody has to be blamed and compensation has to be paid. What a ridiculous world we have created.
It always amuses me when people are interviewed and they say, 'It's not the money. I just don't want anyone to go through what I've been through'. If that is the case I wonder if they give the money to charity?

We had a similar case over here (not a policewoman) but someone making a claim because they'd hurt their leg tripping on a step. The judge told them to look where they were going in future and threw the case out of court. I'm sure I wasn't the only one cheering at my radio when I heard it on the news.
I'm glad this policewoman was made to see sense in the end

[Mervyn and Trish]

And I hope she is ordered to pay all costs of all parties involved in the case. Even if she didn't progress it I imagine the garage owner will have instructed a solicitor and will have a bill to pay.