Man sues M&S for £300K over grape

[totalgenius]

An accountant is suing Marks & Spencer for more than £300,000 after claiming he injured himself during a shopping trip by slipping on a grape.

Alexander Martin-Sklan, 55, from Golders Green, north London, tore the tendon in his right leg in the car park of his local branch in June 2004.

He said a piece of fruit found on his shoe after the fall could have been picked up inside the store or car park.

The retail giant is contesting the High Court claim.

Mr Martin-Sklan, who is representing himself, is claiming for lost earnings on top of his general damages, because "loss of confidence" and depression following his injury led to him being unable to recruit new clients and contacts for his business.

He also said the physical effects stopped him from skiing and playing football or tennis.

The hearing is set to last two days.





http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7289051.stm

 

[janobi]

An accountant is suing Marks & Spencer for more than £300,000 after claiming he injured himself during a shopping trip by slipping on a grape.

Alexander Martin-Sklan, 55, from Golders Green, north London, tore the tendon in his right leg in the car park of his local branch in June 2004.

He said a piece of fruit found on his shoe after the fall could have been picked up inside the store or car park.

The retail giant is contesting the High Court claim.

Mr Martin-Sklan, who is representing himself, is claiming for lost earnings on top of his general damages, because "loss of confidence" and depression following his injury led to him being unable to recruit new clients and contacts for his business.

He also said the physical effects stopped him from skiing and playing football or tennis.

The hearing is set to last two days.





http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7289051.stm

The guy has no chance, this is the UK and not the US. I cant believe the courts are even hearing this case. What a waste of our taxes.

 

[MikeS]

it is a civil matter - it is costing him to go to court, if he doesnt win then he will pay for the all the fees

 

[janobi]

it is a civil matter - it is costing him to go to court, if he doesnt win then he will pay for the all the fees

Civil servants need wages mate. Taxes pay those. But agreed if he loses he has to pay costs, I just dont see why this is even being entertained. Only the lawyers will win in this situation.

 

[nozzer]

A case of sour grapes I think

 

[janobi]

A case of sour grapes I think

LMFAO. There is always one. lol.

 

[Bigga]

He must be fed up of doing the lottery lol and fancies is odds with m&s!!!!!

 

[Nani121]

good luck to him hope he wins lol

He ain't got much chance though lol

 

[nara]

good luck to him hope he wins lol

He ain't got much chance though lol

Why do you hope he wins. It's chancers like him who feed the ambulance chasers.

 

[janobi]

Why do you hope he wins. It's chancers like him who feed the ambulance chasers.

I think he was being sarcastic mate. And tbh he aint got a chance. Check out the news on the gambler who lost 2m and sued the bookies. He had a stronger case and still lost.

 

[brewby]

Just my twopenneth but my ex wife won £3000 from littlewoods stores after slipping on a jacket potato skin in one of their stores and fracturing a bone in her foot, they claimed that because they did'nt sell jacket potatoes in their cafe or store, they were'nt responsible, it must have been brought in from outside and dropped by a customer, it went to court and the judge decided they were liable because there were no waste bins available for customers to use in the store.
This was 22 yrs ago the cost to littlewoods was around £7000 in compensation and costs.
We got legal aid to sue them in the first place

 

[TBC]

Just my twopenneth but my ex wife won £3000 from littlewoods stores after slipping on a jacket potato skin in one of their stores and fracturing a bone in her foot, they claimed that because they did'nt sell jacket potatoes in their cafe or store, they were'nt responsible, it must have been brought in from outside and dropped by a customer, it went to court and the judge decided they were liable because there were no waste bins available for customers to use in the store.
This was 22 yrs ago the cost to littlewoods was around £7000 in compensation and costs.
We got legal aid to sue them in the first place

yep this is exactly why it is necessary to have public liability insurance lol.


tbc

 

[earthshayker]

I hope he gets a result because from the sounds of his injuries he deserves it, i've been there I was on my way home from work on my motorbike some woman just thought to pull out from a side turning I spent 3 months in ICU and could not walk for a year and a futher 2 years with crutches and still having to use a walking stick at times now. I had a total of 32 general anastec. ops and 2 more still to come later this year.
I've lost my job missed out on my kid walking and talking for the first time lucky for me my wife stuck with me and helped me through it ( I could not go to the toilet or shower without her help).
I found myself deep in debt and you know what? that same ambulance chaser helped me get my life back together my debts are paid my house is paid for and my kids future is finacially secure.

My point is don't judge a person until you've been in their shoes because apart from the physical pain there is alot more pain in many other forms.

Six years on I still have nightmares

 

[ice2004]

I hope he gets a result because from the sounds of his injuries he deserves it, i've been there I was on my way home from work on my motorbike some woman just thought to pull out from a side turning I spent 3 months in ICU and could not walk for a year and a futher 2 years with crutches and still having to use a walking stick at times now. I had a total of 32 general anastec. ops and 2 more still to come later this year.
I've lost my job missed out on my kid walking and talking for the first time lucky for me my wife stuck with me and helped me through it ( I could not go to the toilet or shower without her help).
I found myself deep in debt and you know what? that same ambulance chaser helped me get my life back together my debts are paid my house is paid for and my kids future is finacially secure.

My point is don't judge a person until you've been in their shoes because apart from the physical pain there is alot more pain in many other forms.

Six years on I still have nightmares

Your story, sad that it is, has absolutely no resemblance to this man's claim in the slightest.

Alexander Martin-Sklan, 55, from Golders Green, north London, tore the tendon in his right leg in the car park of his local branch in June 2004.

He said a piece of fruit found on his shoe after the fall could have been picked up inside the store or car park.

He doesnt even know if the piece of fruit has anything to do with the shop, for all he knows that piece of fruits been on his shoe for days. If he wins this case it just shows what a complete feck up our country is.

 

[Rs2k_Rider]

Just been on the news he has FAILED in his attempt to sue them, and got a £15k bill for the journey lol !!
High court judge through it out

 

[Nani121]

15k?

phewwww that is a lot of money!

 

[janobi]

Just my twopenneth but my ex wife won £3000 from littlewoods stores after slipping on a jacket potato skin in one of their stores and fracturing a bone in her foot, they claimed that because they did'nt sell jacket potatoes in their cafe or store, they were'nt responsible, it must have been brought in from outside and dropped by a customer, it went to court and the judge decided they were liable because there were no waste bins available for customers to use in the store.
This was 22 yrs ago the cost to littlewoods was around £7000 in compensation and costs.
We got legal aid to sue them in the first place

Yes, your case was different, as it was in store. This was in a car park, so how can he prove M&S caused the injury.

And good to hear that there is still some sense in the British Law system.

 

[nara]

Just been on the news he has FAILED in his attempt to sue them, and got a £15k bill for the journey lol !!
High court judge through it out

Excellent news! As janobi has said, it's great to see some common sense from the Law for a change.

 

[earthshayker]

He doesnt even know if the piece of fruit has anything to do with the shop, for all he knows that piece of fruits been on his shoe for days. If he wins this case it just shows what a complete feck up our country is.

Point taken however we also don't know if that piece of fruit was in store. I completely understand your point and funny enough my solicitor and I had this coversation and even he told me that he had to dismiss himself from a case as he thought that the client was not genuine. I thinks the best thing we could do in this country NOW before it gets worse is to introduce lie detector tests.

The only thing with this case is I don't know how they came to the £300k seems a bit much unless there are more to his situation than was published

 

[janobi]

Point taken however we also don't know if that piece of fruit was in store. I completely understand your point and funny enough my solicitor and I had this coversation and even he told me that he had to dismiss himself from a case as he thought that the client was not genuine. I thinks the best thing we could do in this country NOW before it gets worse is to introduce lie detector tests.

The only thing with this case is I don't know how they came to the £300k seems a bit much unless there are more to his situation than was published

People like this are risk takers. This aint the US, where you can sue for nothing and win. With regards to fruit in the store, I doubt it was on his foot there. A shop floor is a a lot more slippery than a car park. So in theory if it was in his foot he should of slipped in store. What is more probable, is that he hurt himself, and then made this story up to get some free cash.