Illegal Tackle
UNISON and lawyers Thompsons have secured £42,500 for the partner of a member whose leg was broken in two places by an illegal tackle during a Sunday league football match.
The injured man, who was playing in the Birkenhead Sunday League, was hurt when an opposing player subjected him to a late, high and unlawful challenge which was with such force that his leg was broken in two places and even his shin pad was fractured. His injuries were so serious that he was off work for 18 months following the game.
The referee however did not witness the tackle, failed to discipline the offending player and did not prepare a match report.
The injured man’s claim was made even more difficult when half of each football team gave evidence with diametrically opposed recollections of the facts.
A claim for damages was made against the offending player and was dealt with by his insurers who fought the case to trial.
But despite this the judge at Liverpool County Court accepted his evidence and said that the challenge was “far beyond the laws of the game and beyond that which is permissible”.
UNISON Extended Legal Service Covers Family Members Injured Away From Work
UNISON North West regional secretary Frank Hont commented: “The success of this difficult case shows how prepared UNISON is to back its members and their family members in seeking compensation for injuries caused by the negligent actions of others even where the case is not straightforward or certain to succeed. Our extended legal service covers family members injured away from work and this outcome of this case illustrates just how effective it is at doing that.”
Matthew Tollitt of Thompsons, who represented the family member, said: “Pursuing compensation for people injured while taking part in sport is always difficult because the law says that an individual taking part has accepted the risk that they might be injured. But where a challenge is not only outside the laws of the game but is so outside that it is reckless and a player is injured as a result, the perpetrators of such challenges can expect to be sued.”
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