Student to Receive Compensation for Horrific Fall

A student who suffered horrific brain injuries after falling 20 feet onto a concrete surface has won the right to compensation.

Jonathan Harvey was a student at Southampton University when the accident happened. He had been out drinking with friends and had consumed up to eight pints of beer prior to being dropped off by a taxi outside a Tesco store in Plymouth. After paying what they owed to the driver, he and a friend ran away from the taxi in order to make another member of the group pay his share.

Mr Harvey ran towards some bushes. In the dark, he did not see the 20-foot drop behind a badly maintained fence and he fell down onto the car park beneath. He very nearly died in the accident and now has difficulty walking and talking.

The land from which Mr Harvey fell was owned by Plymouth City Council and it was responsible for maintaining the fence.

When the case came to court, it was found that Mr Harvey bore a significant proportion of the blame for the accident. The judge explained that, in his view, had Mr Harvey been sober he would have made his way more carefully through the unlit area. By running into it, he significantly added to the probability that he would injure himself in some way.

The court found Mr Harvey 75 per cent responsible for the accident but he is still likely to receive considerable damages from the Council because of the severity of his injuries.