Ayrshire meat factory worker pursuing £700,000 injury claim after abattoir accident

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A man seeking nearly £700,000 in damages after being injured following an accident at work has today spoken of the “profound impact” it’s had on his life.

Francis Murphy, from Ayrshire, is “unlikely” to work again after being injured at an abattoir. The firm at the centre of the case is Dunbia (UK) Highland Meats, who own plants across the UK.Following the accident, Mr Murphy received a voluntary payment of £40,000 and an award of £10,000 interim damages in April 2022.Interim damages are sums secured from the other side to help deal with immediate and urgent costs faced by the pursuer, such as rent/mortgage, medication or utilities bills.This is commonly seen in cases where the injured person is no longer able to work and can’t meet these costs on their own.Mr Murphy’s legal team then sought a further payment of £30,000 in interim damages, arguing that Mr Murphy’s ‘change of circumstances’ merited a further payment.However, during a Court of Session hearing in Edinburgh last week the motion from Mr Murphy’s legal team was denied by Lord Lake.In a written judgement Lord Lake said: “The principal issues at the hearing were whether when taken with the sums already paid, the sum sought was more than a reasonable proportion of the damages that might be recovered by the pursuer (Mr Murphy) and whether there had been a change of circumstances since the date of the previous award, giving rise to an entitlement for the pursuer to make a further motion.The Ayrshire Live app is available to download now.Get all the local news in your area – plus features, football news and the latest on the coronavirus crisis – at your fingertips 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories while you can customise