Disabled crash victim gets £6.3m

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 19th Feb 2008

A 23-year-old Tyneside man left severely disabled after a car crash has been awarded £6.3m damages. David Dei-Ceci, was on his way to a camping trip in Kielder Forest in 2002, when the car in which he was a passenger crashed into a field. He was thrown from the vehicle and sustained brain injuries, leaving him requiring round-the-clock, live-in care for the rest of his life. Mr Dei-Ceci, of Newcastle, was 17 at the time of the crash in 2002.

The compensation was awarded by the High Court in London on Monday. Mrs Justice Dobbs awarded the settlement at a brief hearing attended by Mr Dei-Ceci's mother Pamela. The claim was made against the insurers of the driver, Samantha Armstrong, of Wallsend, North Tyneside. John Davis, of Irwin Mitchell solicitors in Newcastle, said the huge payout reflected Mr Dei-Ceci's condition.

He said: "David defied the odds - and medical opinion - to survive the crash but has been left with terrible injuries and will never be able to work again. The Dei-Ceci family will not be sitting on a pot of gold - the payout will be held and managed by the court of protection and can only be used to help provide care and comfort for David. We are delighted to have been able to secure such a settlement for David, whose life has been altered indescribably by what happened."

Mrs Justice Dobbs told Mrs Dei-Ceci: "It has obviously been a difficult six years for you and I hope that this settlement will help to make life easier for you and please accept the good wishes of the court."