£7k settlement for paving slab fall man

Published: 03 September 2010
by JOSH LOEB

A BUILDER who sued Westminster Council after tripping on a street paving slab has accepted an out-of-court settlement of £7,000.

City Hall accepted liability after John Preston, 58, of Kilravock Street, Ladbroke Grove, fell in Droop Street, Queen’s Park, in December 2004.

The council’s original offer was of £8,000 compensation, but Mr Preston turned this down, calling it “paltry”.

He accepted the reduced offer during a break at a fast-track hearing at the Central London County Court in Park Crescent, Regent’s Park, heard by District Judge Michael Gilchrist.

Mr Preston had wanted the council to cover the cost of expenditure he claimed he had incurred due to health problems caused by the fall. This included money spent on a new sofa bed, clothes, shoes and hosiery. 

At the hearing on Thursday, defence barrister Senay Rodger accused Mr Preston of “gilding the lily” and exaggerating the extent of his injury and its financial ramifications.

“You’ve had an injury and you’ve decided to make the most of it, get the most you can out of it,” she said.

Mr Preston denied this was the case. The retired builder said he had suffered swelling in his foot as well as knee problems.

Although not working at the time of the fall due to a previous accident, he claimed injuries he sustained because of the paving had exacerbated  pre-existing health problems and forced him to retire. He said the case had been “unnecessarily dragged out”.

The sum of legal costs has yet to be finalised.

A Westminster Council spokesperson said: “Westminster will be paying solicitors’ costs up to June last year. From June until Thursday, Mr Preston will be paying his solicitor’s costs and ours.”

After the trial Mr Preston commented: “I was never going to get a fortune.”