Multi-million pound damages for boy who suffered birth brain injury

The Royal Bolton Hospital where boy was deprived of oxygen during his delivery in 2011

A boy who suffered a catastrophic brain injury after failings during his birth has won multimillion-pound damages.

The boy, now seven, was left with cerebral palsy after his brain was deprived of oxygen at Royal Bolton Hospital in 2011.

The High Court in London heard he also has learning difficulties and difficulty swallowing and feeding.

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust has agreed to pay him £4m and annual care costs for the rest of his life.

Judge Geoffrey Tattersall praised the boy's parents and said they had gone "far and away beyond what one would normally expect parents to do for a child".

"They have devoted their lives to this child and his well-being," he added.

'Sensible' settlement

The court heard that the boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, also had severe motor disabilities, cognitive impairment, epilepsy and suffered from frequent involuntary movements.

His lawyers sued the trust, which runs the hospital, for compensation.

Andrew Kennedy, representing the trust in court, repeated "the apology that was made to his parents at the time admission of liability was made in 2013".

The trust agreed to pay index-linked annual payments for the boy's care costs as well as the lump sum.

The payments will start at £110,000 a year until he is 11, rise to £175,000 a year until he turns 19 and then increase to £255,000 a year for life.

Judge Tattersall approved the "very sensible and worthwhile" settlement.