06/05/2008

Parents Receive Crash Damages For Injured Daughter

The parents of a baby who was left brain damaged in a road accident, are to received £800,000 in damages.

Two-year-old Cerys Edwards was injured in the crash in Streetly Lane, Sutton Coldfield on 11 November, 2006.

Cerys' parents had been driving back from a Christmas shopping trip when their car was hit by a Range Rover driven by twenty-one-year-old Antonio Singh Boporan.

Boporan, of Little Aston, was convicted of dangerous driving and was sentenced to 21 months and a driving ban of five years. He had been driving at more than 70mph in a 30mph area.

The toddler who is being cared for by the Children's Trust in Surrey has endured 11 operations since the crash. She is still on a ventilator.

Cerys' parents will have to specially adapt their home or move to care for their child. The parents lawyer Richard Langton said that the modifications would cost around £850,000.

Mr Langton said that the changes had to accommodate not just Cerys but "all her carers around the clock".

Mr Langton said that Mr and Mrs Edwards were "really happy" with the outcome and that they could now find somewhere to live.

At the moment her parents have to travel 150 miles to visit their daughter.

Boparan's barrister, Bernard Doherty said that Boparan was "pleased that it's been possible to agree this interim payment".

Boparan's parents released a statement in April saying they were "deeply sorry" that "this awful accident" had such "devastating consequences".

Cerys' parents have started an online petition – www.cerysedwards.com - calling for tougher sentences to be introduced for dangerous driving.

Currently the maximum is two years but Cerys' parents want it raised to ten years.

The settlement was paid by Mitsui Marine and Fire, the company Boparan's car was insured by.

(DS/JM)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

15 August 2014
Two Arrested During Search For Missing Brothers
Two people have been arrested by police searching for three brothers missing since Monday. It is now known that the brothers, Remus (15), Janko (12) and David (10), caught a train to Newcastle while their foster parents thought they were out for a bike ride on Monday evening. The brothers were seen on CCTV leaving Newcastle's Central Station.
14 November 2013
Police Report Missing Teen Found 'Safe And Well'
Police have reported that a missing 15-year-old girl has been found "safe and well". At the time of her disappearance Ella Hysom, from Colchester, Essex, had been receiving treatment for depression at a hospital in Goodmayes, east London. She had been reported missing on Monday, having been last seen in Ilford, east London.
22 June 2012
New Guide To Help Parents Teach Children About Body Confidence
The government has backed a guide to help parents teach their children to be confident about their bodies. The guide stresses that the so-called perfect body and the emphasis on skinniness is a "socially and culturally constructed ideal".
11 February 2010
Boost For Lone Parent Job Seekers
Thousands of lone parents will get extra help to attain training and work experience while their children are at nursery school, the Government announced today. Those who work less than 16 hours a week will also be able to keep £50 of their wages before losing any benefits, Work Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
09 March 2015
Motorist Jailed After Driving With A Man Clinging To Car Bonnet
A motorist has been jailed for 14 months after driving through Camberley with a man clinging to the bonnet of his car. Grzegorz Musial, 28, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court having previously pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm, dangerous driving, driving without insurance and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.