£4 million expected for cyclist paralysed in car crash

An estimated £4 million in compensation is heading the way of a Wiltshire cyclist who was left with serious disabilities after being hit by a car four years ago.

Graham Gregory, from Blunsdon, near Swindon, suffered spinal injuries in the crash and is now tetraplegic and unable to care for himself.

He was told at a High Court hearing in London that he will receive ‘substantial compensation’ for the injuries which left him paralysed from the neck down.

Lawyers have estimated that he could receive a pay-out of around £4 million to provide 24-a-day hour care for the rest of his life.

Mr Gregory was cycling home from a friend’s house when he was struck by a car from behind on Tewkesbury Way, West Swindon.

After receiving initial treatment, Mr Gregory was later moved to the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital where he spent 32 days in intensive care.

He stayed there for two years before he was transferred to Salisbury Hospital’s spinal unit, where he remained until February last year.

Mr Gregory had been fit and active before the accident and had a range of jobs. Now he is confined to living in a bungalow specially adapted to his needs and is reliant on his family.

Barrister Gerard McDermott QC said of his client: “He was almost as badly injured as it is possible to imagine.”

Mr Gregory sued the driver of the car that hit him, but the defence of the case was taken over by the Motor Insurers Bureau, the industry body which is responsible for compensating victims of drivers who are either uninsured, or under-insured.

But after last minute negotiations outside court, Mr McDermott told Judge John Leighton-Williams QC that the MIB had agreed to compensate Mr Gregory on the basis of 90 per cent liability.

Judge Leighton-Williams said he was delighted, particularly for Mr Gregory’s sake to approve the settlement of the liability issue.

He said the compromise was entirely appropriate and justified and would give Mr Gregory financial security for the future.