Hospital appeal over disabled boy

3.37.16pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 16th Mar 2007

Swansea NHS Trust will try to appeal against a High Court judgement in which full compensation was guaranteed to a disabled boy. The High Court in London ruled that Jac Richards, 10, from Llanelli, would have escaped injury had he been delivered by caesarean 10 minutes earlier.

Jac suffered oxygen starvation before his birth at Singleton Hospital, Swansea, causing brain damage. The trust, which denied liability, said it would be seeking leave to appeal. No figure had been set for the compensation, which was to be decided at another court hearing. Jac, who has cerebral palsy, sued the trust through his mother, Joanne Richards.

Mr Justice Field ruled the trust liable after hearing evidence from experts that had Jac been born by 1.55pm, he would have escaped damage to his brain. But a crucial delay meant he was not born until 2.05pm.

He said: "I find that Jac has established on the balance of probabilities that those attending Mrs Richards negligently failed to deliver Jac as fast as possible and that, had they not been so negligent, Jac would have been born before 1.55pm and intact."

After the High Court judgement, Swansea NHS Trust said it had "decided it will be seeking leave to appeal". The trust said it would be inappropriate to comment further while legal proceedings were continuing.