Ardingly teen sues school over fall (From The Argus)
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Ardingly teen sues school over fall
10:30am Friday 3rd September 2010 in
A TEENAGER is suing a council for as much as £100,000 because she says she can’t make friends.
Natasha Caley-Winborne, 17, claims her life has never been the same after she tripped over in a primary school playground 11 years ago.
She said the incident has left her with a catalogue of health problems including violent mood swings, severe headaches, post traumatic amnesia and difficulty forming friendships.
The youngster, who is due to start college this month, said she was a six-year-old pupil at St Peter’s Primary School in Ardingly, near Haywards Heath, when she tripped on an uneven grass bank and fell on to a hard surface, hitting her head.
She said her injuries were so bad she missed large chunks of school and had to regularly attend clinics at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Natasha has now issued a writ at the Royal Court of Justice in London against West Sussex County Council, which runs the school, for damages between £50,000 and £100,000 for “pain and injury, loss and damage”.
The council said it would defend the claim.
See today's Argus for full report.
Comments(37)
MantaRay1
says...
11:11am Fri 3 Sep 10
I had a teacher used to crack me over the head with his knuckles and it has left me traumatised to this very day. How much could I claim for that...I wonder?
Asbo
says...
11:15am Fri 3 Sep 10
lulabrighton
says...
11:16am Fri 3 Sep 10
Burgess901
says...
11:38am Fri 3 Sep 10
Yes grass tends to be uneven as there is no straight lines in nature.
Agree with Mantaray1, accidents happen, and I fail to see how anyone is to blame.
'no claim, no fee' parasite lawyers should be outlawed.
Spanners
says...
11:41am Fri 3 Sep 10
lulabrighton wrote:quite right lula
Was it really necessary to name this YOUNG girl? Shame on you. Mean week, indeed.
NotGreen
says...
11:50am Fri 3 Sep 10
Come on Argus, lets get a picture of her.
MantaRay1
says...
11:58am Fri 3 Sep 10
lulabrighton wrote:Young girl? She's 17 now.
Was it really necessary to name this YOUNG girl? Shame on you. Mean week, indeed.
Fight Back
says...
12:39pm Fri 3 Sep 10
lulabrighton wrote:She's stupid enough to make a claim in a public court AND she's trying to take taxpayers money ( I know the insurers will pay but our tax pays the premiums ) so yes, she should be named. She's just a money grabbing young lady.
Was it really necessary to name this YOUNG girl? Shame on you. Mean week, indeed.
Andy R
says...
1:09pm Fri 3 Sep 10
I wonder why comments have actually been activated at all on this story, since no-one giving us the benefit of their "wisdom" has the slightest notion of the full facts and evidence on which the case is based.
Betty Blue
says...
1:15pm Fri 3 Sep 10
Whats the betting she is from a council estate, trying to make money.
cheezburger
says...
1:18pm Fri 3 Sep 10
Always working
says...
1:25pm Fri 3 Sep 10
Betty Blue wrote:Please don't be so shallow. I grew up on a council estate and now own my own flat and work very har din 2 jobs to pay for what I have. Maybe she was a bit of a recluse and maybe she is just after money but where people live doesn't make them any less money hungry.
I bet she had no friends before her fall. Whats the betting she is from a council estate, trying to make money.
worthinglogic
says...
1:35pm Fri 3 Sep 10
Andy R wrote:Incase you hadn't noticed the law is sometimes an ****.
Usual sadsacks weighing in with the usual vitriol. We can't have ordinary people using the law can we? Whatever next?
I wonder why comments have actually been activated at all on this story, since no-one giving us the benefit of their "wisdom" has the slightest notion of the full facts and evidence on which the case is based.
The full facts as presented to us state she fell over on some "uneven grass". That is just plain crazy. Grass is uneven by the very nature of roots that run underneath it. Maybe she'd be happy if she were put in a padded room and somebody threw away the key, at least that way she couldn't trip and hurt herself. Yes it's sad if these "injuries" she said she sustained are the result of this fall, but that's life.
AmboGuy
says...
2:36pm Fri 3 Sep 10
Fight Back wrote:I agree with Fight Back. If she wants to get her grubby little hands on taxpayers money then we should name and shame this little money grabbing, cynical, greedy, sellfish individual. She might not be 18 but she's not a little kid either.
lulabrighton wrote: Was it really necessary to name this YOUNG girl? Shame on you. Mean week, indeed.She's stupid enough to make a claim in a public court AND she's trying to take taxpayers money ( I know the insurers will pay but our tax pays the premiums ) so yes, she should be named. She's just a money grabbing young lady.
Just looking at the amount of compensation lawyers adverts on TV tells you that we're not that far off America when it comes to a ridiculous greedy sueing culture.
KeefyH44
says...
2:37pm Fri 3 Sep 10
gburbs
says...
3:09pm Fri 3 Sep 10
Andy R wrote:Exactly, having known the family when the incident took place and my children going to the school, the facts have not been fully supported in the paper. It is sometime since we moved from the area but I was fully aware of the extent of her injuries and her constant suffering, her screaming in severe head pain, unrelenting. The so called uneven grass bank was an area that fencing had recently been removed from leaving large holes in the ground. the bank was adjacent to the playground and the children allowed to play on it during breaks. Her foot went in to one of the holes and she fell onto the playground causing damage to the front of her skull, pushing it inwards and thus putting pressure on her brain. The holes should have been filled in prior to allowing young children onto that area. Before commenting people need to take stock of the facts. I'm no longer in any contact with her family and have not been for a number of years but hope that she can find some comfort from what has been a torturous time.
Usual sadsacks weighing in with the usual vitriol. We can't have ordinary people using the law can we? Whatever next?
I wonder why comments have actually been activated at all on this story, since no-one giving us the benefit of their "wisdom" has the slightest notion of the full facts and evidence on which the case is based.
Granny
says...
3:25pm Fri 3 Sep 10
Jo-scuba
says...
3:29pm Fri 3 Sep 10
The Good Driver
says...
3:39pm Fri 3 Sep 10
'
Eleven years on seems a bit of a time to decide to sue. The CPS decided six months post-incident was too long to prosecute one of our finest after the death of an innocent bystander at the London G20 conference.
.
Apparently, film evidence of the elderly gentleman being attacked from behind wasn't enough to do the constable responsible, never mind the minor detail of manslaughter. Contradictory evidence, apparently.....
.
Returning to the Argus story, eleven years on, a fall at school can be considered as a reason for not being able to maintain friendships? Isn't there what our Transatlantic buddies call a 'Statute of Limitations' in place in this country? How long after an incident is it possible to seek redress?
'
Give 'er the money, Mabel. And while you are at it, bung a few quid to the legal whizz-kids fighting her case. I'm sure they can string this one out.
Fight Back
says...
3:54pm Fri 3 Sep 10
gburbs wrote:If true then that's very sad BUT her parents should have dealt with the matter years ago and sued due to the negligence involved. To sue now, and for the reason that she couldn't make friends, looks petty and money grabbing. Call me cynical but considering the age she is does she not need funds for college or Uni now ?
Andy R wrote:Exactly, having known the family when the incident took place and my children going to the school, the facts have not been fully supported in the paper. It is sometime since we moved from the area but I was fully aware of the extent of her injuries and her constant suffering, her screaming in severe head pain, unrelenting. The so called uneven grass bank was an area that fencing had recently been removed from leaving large holes in the ground. the bank was adjacent to the playground and the children allowed to play on it during breaks. Her foot went in to one of the holes and she fell onto the playground causing damage to the front of her skull, pushing it inwards and thus putting pressure on her brain. The holes should have been filled in prior to allowing young children onto that area. Before commenting people need to take stock of the facts. I'm no longer in any contact with her family and have not been for a number of years but hope that she can find some comfort from what has been a torturous time.
Usual sadsacks weighing in with the usual vitriol. We can't have ordinary people using the law can we? Whatever next?
I wonder why comments have actually been activated at all on this story, since no-one giving us the benefit of their "wisdom" has the slightest notion of the full facts and evidence on which the case is based.
dawnie112
says...
3:54pm Fri 3 Sep 10
Brightonbythesea
says...
4:01pm Fri 3 Sep 10
The Good Driver
says...
4:14pm Fri 3 Sep 10
KeefyH44
says...
5:24pm Fri 3 Sep 10
MantaRay1
says...
5:41pm Fri 3 Sep 10
Brightonbythesea wrote:Whether you are right or wrong is not the point but I award you "The Most Upfront Comment Of The Week" for your statement. I couldn't help but lol when I read it.
Natasha is a nasty piece of work, look her up on facebook she has lots of friends, she is a money grabbing cow, I went to school with her,
fozziesheadband
says...
7:06am Sat 4 Sep 10
Sorry love, if you were playing on a grass bank then you should know the risks.
What next? Suing schools for grass Staines!!
Cheeseburgers
says...
9:25am Sat 4 Sep 10
gburbs wrote:I've grown up with Natasha, through Primary school and Secondary. The bank actually being banned from playing on due to the holes, and was announced clearly in a whole school assembly. It was her choice to break these rules and due to these actions she fell over. But the argus is telling some **** and bull. Natasha, or as her friends called her Tash, has not ever found it hard to make friends, she's always out with friends. She is probably one of the most popular girls that i know. She was always with a group of friends at school being happy.
Andy R wrote: Usual sadsacks weighing in with the usual vitriol. We can't have ordinary people using the law can we? Whatever next? I wonder why comments have actually been activated at all on this story, since no-one giving us the benefit of their "wisdom" has the slightest notion of the full facts and evidence on which the case is based.Exactly, having known the family when the incident took place and my children going to the school, the facts have not been fully supported in the paper. It is sometime since we moved from the area but I was fully aware of the extent of her injuries and her constant suffering, her screaming in severe head pain, unrelenting. The so called uneven grass bank was an area that fencing had recently been removed from leaving large holes in the ground. the bank was adjacent to the playground and the children allowed to play on it during breaks. Her foot went in to one of the holes and she fell onto the playground causing damage to the front of her skull, pushing it inwards and thus putting pressure on her brain. The holes should have been filled in prior to allowing young children onto that area. Before commenting people need to take stock of the facts. I'm no longer in any contact with her family and have not been for a number of years but hope that she can find some comfort from what has been a torturous time.
I'm sorry but Natasha sueing is the most ridiculous and pathetic thing i've ever heard, her and her family are just trying to grab as much money as possible, i'm going to admit she will most probably get the money, which is stupid, which Natasha and her family will probably just spend it on them all to spoil them silly. Over all, this is going to give St. Peters a terrible reputation, when it shouldn't have to put up with that, its a lovely school and pretty much everyone who is and at the school will agree. Natasha probably disapproved with her childhood, i remember at primary school she was a bully, a horrible girl, thought she was better than anyone else...
At the end of the Day, if they get it, they're going to look selfish, stupid, and wont have any friends, unless they use her.
Old Ladys Gin
says...
9:42am Sat 4 Sep 10
There is only one reason to go to court and that is because you know you can win.
Go to court on a matter of principle and you are almost certainly doomed to failure.
I hope this young lady has taken that into account.
Why she thought to give the story to the Argus is beyond me and not a clever thing to do.
Gazza
says...
9:47am Sat 4 Sep 10
I have never come across a flat grass bank in my entire life. Grass banks are not manmade but evolved over millennia you could even say the big bang had something to do with their creation or the last ice age.
If anything she should sue God if he really did exist because in that book it states in so many days and nights (God created heaven and Earth) so don’t’ sue a lesser mortal for your actions when you were little.
Does this mean I can sue a well known milk float company for chipping my tooth when I cycled into it when I was 4 .Does this mean I can sue a local water company when I nearly drowned in sewage when I fell into the open pit when I was 6 only to be pulled out by a friend totally ruining the knitted jumper my mum had just knitted the day before .Does this mean I can sue the council for falling of a 3 foot high wall into a prickly hedge only for the doctor to be called out to pull out the septic needles all over my body when I was 8. Does this mean ii can sue some teachers over the years for slapping me around the head for playing about and even break-in wind in class? There are plenty of more examples but you get the point.
I don’t sue because it’s an American thing of a capitalist society who lives on greed and guess what I’m not that type of person anyway.
Yours faithfully Mr No Monies but plenty of newts .
AmboGuy
says...
10:29am Sat 4 Sep 10
Surely not!
says...
10:47am Sat 4 Sep 10
Betty Blue wrote:I have said it before and I will say it again. Betty Blue you are obviously a very bitter person. Please get help. I am sure you will be able to enjoy life given a chance.
I bet she had no friends before her fall.
Whats the betting she is from a council estate, trying to make money.
jo w
says...
11:38am Sat 4 Sep 10
oxenbee
says...
11:59am Sat 4 Sep 10
LondonLad88
says...
2:55pm Tue 14 Sep 10
louiseee111
says...
7:22pm Wed 15 Sep 10
i think everyone that doesnt know tash and doesnt have anything nice to say about her should keep their stupid mouth shut all of you talking about oh this happened to me and i didnt claim...no one is bloody stopping oyu go ahead! and all of you saying her parents brought her up wrong they brought her up to respect people and stand up for yourself i dont see whats wrong with that. imagine if it was your son/daughter/father/
niece etc claiming and you saw someone writing stuff about them i dont think you would like it so shut the **** up cus if you actually knew her you would be writing stuff to say how she is NOT a "money grabbing cow2 and excuse me imagine what she has been through i think she deserves to "spoil" herself if she gets money
Brightonbythesea
says...
11:04am Tue 21 Sep 10
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TheInsider says...
10:39am Fri 3 Sep 10