The Claimant was born on the 10^th September 1968 and so was 33 at the date of the accident on the 27^th July 2002. He sustained a severe brain injury, and his claim was tried before Judge Foster QC. The judgment is interesting for a number of reasons.

The Claimant's wife had looked after him since the accident, and was at the end of her tether. The judge accepted Mrs Sargent's estimate of the amount of care which had been rendered, but discounted it by only 10% (the Housecroft v Burnett discount) because it was particularly frustrating work spread over 24 hours every day.

In relation to future care, he rejected the argument put forward by the defence expert, Cathy Johnson, that Mrs Tomlinson should be involved in future care, describing her position as neither logical nor sensible, and not in accordance with the expert medical evidence or the treating clinicians. The judge therefore adopted the 24 hour care regime put forward by Maggie Sargent, using her costings.

An interesting finale to the judgment is the issue of capacity. The judge acknowledged that he was the lone voice doubting whether the Claimant had capacity. He considered the law, and the expert evidence (which nowadays is usually hampered, I think, by Masterman -Lister) and was forced to decide, despite his grave doubts, that the Claimant had capacity.