Multi-million pound clinical negligence settlement for boy brain damaged at birth

Posted 22/11/2011

A seven-figure clinical negligence settlement has been awarded to a boy who suffered brain damage shortly after his birth.Dontay Crooks was delivered at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital in August 2005 but his lawyers claimed his brain was starved of oxygen during labour.As a result, he will need 24-hour care for the rest of his life after developing epilepsy, while he is also visually impaired.Mother Damali Ochiela has agreed a clinical negligence settlement believed to be over £1 million, although she is still fighting over the liability in the case.A spokesperson for Oxford University Hospitals was quoted by BBC News as saying: “The trust hopes that the settlement, along with the high level and care devotion provided by the child’s mother and extended family, will assist him to reach his potential.”Harefield Hospital was recently told to pay a seven-figure clinical negligence settlement to Robbie Crane, who is now 12, after he suffered brain damage a few days after he was born, the Uxbridge Gazette reported.