Record payout to lorry widow
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• Record damages of almost £1 million (with costs) have been awarded to the widow whose 38-year-old husband was killed when his Jaguar was hit by a Midlands British Road Services truck 10 years ago.
The High Court settlement, made to Mrs Frederika Miles of Tubney in Oxfordshire, was the highest ever in a fatal road accident case in Britain. The accident happened in March 1978 at the junction of the A34 and A44 near Chipping Norton, Oxford, when the artic ploughed into Gordon Miles' Jaguar. He later died of multiple injuries.
Truck owner Midlands British Road Services, an NFC subsidiary, accepted 90% liability for the crash which happened at the peak of Miles' career. Miles ran a chain of motor accessory outlets and the business was said to have been flourishing. He was described by Deputy Judge Sir Douglas Frank QC as having been a man of "outstanding business acumen".
The court heard that after Miles' death his widow was unable to keep the business going and it had eventually gone into voluntary liquidation in 1985.
Miles left his wife and two young daughters Amanda, now 15, and Adrienne, now 14. The judge awarded Mrs Miles 2410,994 to go to the estate of her husband, and another £454,859 to be awarded under the Fatal Accidents Act. From that he ordered £258,000 to go towards the upbringing of the children.