1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184 
Council pays E3.75m to binman disabled in crash
Page 16
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A FORMER BINMAN has received £3.75m in compensation after the refuse truck he was travelling in crashed, leaving him tetraplegic and in need of roundthe-clock care.
Richard Taylor, 21, from Cannock, Staffordshire, broke his neck after the vehicle overturned with him and two colleagues in the cab. His employer, Lichfield District Council, was not found to be criminally responsible for the accident following investigations by the police and the Health and Safety Executive.
However, a deputy high court judge sitting in Birmingham agreed to the settlement after the council made a partial admission of liability.
At the time of the accident the driver was attempting a load shift', on instruction of the team leader. This involves driving at highspeed around a corner to move rubbish forward that has accumulated at the back of the vehicle.
In a statement the council says: "The council would make it clear that it did not and does not condone any practice of so-called load shifting', either by its own employees or by agency workers engaged in re fuse collection on the council's behalf. Such an activity is obviously highly dangerous and must not be carried out under any circumstances."
The driver of the vehicle was convicted of dangerous driving and given a driving ban and a community service order.
The team leader, Malcom Cope, was found guilty of aiding and abetting dangerous driving and was given a four-month suspended prison sentence.