PM Law Solicitors

21/05/25

A doctor left paralysed after his £2,300 bicycle snapped in half during a ride has been awarded £4.5 million in damages.

Dr Daniel Gordon, 31, suffered a catastrophic spinal injury in August 2020 when the front forks of his Planet X gravel bike sheared while he was cycling at around 15mph on a grassy slope in Inverness.

The accident threw him to the ground and left him with no use of his lower body, despite undergoing spinal surgery and months of rehabilitation.

25/04/25

A civil servant from the Department for Work and Pensions may face imprisonment after admitting to defrauding the government of over £41,000 in unauthorised expenses, a court has heard.

Maurice Okello, 39, also confessed to submitting a forged sick note to his employer in order to claim more than £4,000 in salary while travelling abroad under the pretence of being unfit for work. During this time, he visited destinations including Tampa, Mexico City, Boston, the Greek island of Kos, and Morocco, as well as making multiple trips to Brussels and Gothenburg, Sweden, between December 2022 and September 2023.

31/03/25

A man who kept an unlicensed alligator in his backyard has been ordered to pay nearly £1,000 in fines and costs. Ashley Betts, 32, housed Cliff, an American alligator, in a custom-built outhouse and tank for over a year before it was discovered and seized by police.

The 4ft-long reptile was found on July 11 of last year when officers visited Betts' home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, for an unrelated matter and asked to see his licence for the animal. At Sheffield Magistrates' Court, Betts claimed he was unaware that a licence was required to keep an alligator, which is native to the US and Mexico.

24/02/25

A teacher suffering from long Covid has been awarded more than £42,000 in compensation after being unfairly dismissed for excessive absences. Joanna White told an employment tribunal that when she raised concerns about her health, her deputy headteacher told her she "just had to get on with it."

27/01/25

Preventing an autistic police officer from undergoing firearms training was an act of discrimination, a tribunal has ruled. PC Lauren Crawford, an officer with Cumbria Police and an international karate player for England, was denied the opportunity due to concerns her neurodiverse condition might pose challenges in high-pressure scenarios, despite strong endorsements from her supervisors and experienced firearms officers.

The tribunal found the decision by Deputy Chief Constable Mark Webster of Cumbria Police to be "puzzling" and noted "overwhelming evidence" that PC Crawford was fully capable of completing the firearms course. As a result, she successfully sued the Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary for disability discrimination, failure to make reasonable adjustments, and disability harassment. She was awarded £21,000 in compensation along with an undisclosed sum for loss of earnings.