Postman wins £3,000 after damaging darts finger in letter bo

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Postman wins £3,000 after damaging darts finger in letter box

A postman who trapped his finger in a letter box has won £3,000 damages from the householder after complaining that the injury stopped him from playing darts.

Dennis Coleman, 52, said the cut he suffered meant he could not compete for cash prizes in local tournaments.

He was delivering mail to Martin Welch’s four-bedroom home when the letter-box flap snapped shut on the middle finger of his right hand.

He was treated at an accident-and-emergency department, then hired ‘no win, no fee’ solicitors to make a claim against Mr Welch.

The civil engineer, 49, initially offered £500 in a settlement but eventually agreed to pay six times that because he was worried about legal costs if the case went to court.

Mr Welch believes the accident in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, last March, occurred because Mr Coleman was rushing to finish his round.

But the postman said the letter box was dangerous because it incorporated a home-made draught-excluder. He said the cut to the finger on his dart-throwing hand was so severe that he was off work for six weeks.

Mr Welch was out at the time of the accident. He knew nothing of it until a claim document arrived from TMJ Legal Services.

It said: ‘It will be alleged that you were in breach of your statutory duties under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957.’

It added that Mr Coleman would be seeking financial compensation due to ‘loss of opportunity to obtain prize money from darts competition’.

But within a few months of the accident, Mr Coleman was back on top form on the North East darts circuit, competing for the £750 top prize in the Teesside Ranking Event at Marton Country Club, Middlesbrough.

He produced one of the night’s big upsets and was ‘a whisker away from the semi-finals’, reported his local paper, the Evening Gazette.

Mr Welch, who has since sold the £300,000 house, said: ‘I am astonished Royal Mail doesn’t have procedures in place with insurers to deal with this.

'The letter box is as it was when the home was built 20 years ago, and after the accident Royal Mail went on delivering.

‘I believe the postman was under pressure to finish his round. You don’t get your finger trapped in a letter box if you are doing your job carefully.’

Mr Coleman said: ‘The cut was deep and pouring with blood. I had three stitches and my hand was badly swollen and extremely painful. I couldn’t play darts for around four months. I had the choice of asking Royal Mail to deal with the matter or making a private claim.’

A Royal Mail manager allegedly examined the letter box after the accident but a spokesman said last night:

‘Royal Mail has not been approached by the postman nor the householder and has had no knowledge of any legal action concerning this incident.’ TMJ Legal Services declined to comment.

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[norbert]

My God that'll have the Daily Sieg Heil readers frothing at the mouths and ranting and raving . Any little thing to stir things up to make a case for privatisation . Private Sector workers don't make opportunistic claims and go to ambulance chasing solicitors of course & RM is never underhand , with no politics of course .

The real cynical shysters are at 148 , Old St , people who'd have sold their arses in Woolworth's window for a tenner and shopped their mates for the price of a pint , then there's the sliding scale bonus culture with their subordinates down the RM food chain ; setting a fine example .

No loyalty is given , none is expected so you'll have the screw 'em for every penny mentality , rightly or wrongly .