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News Desk | News Story
9th April 2008
GMB wins £230,000 for Norwich worker blown up in gas explosion
Compensation for man injured at work
A gas explosion in a Norwich pub which wrecked the career of the gas worker called to investigate a reported gas leak has resulted in a substantial damages payout. The Transco employee secured the damages with the funding of his trade union GMB and their personal injury specialists Thompsons.Danny McLoed, from Norwich, was employed by Transco and had been called out to investigate a gas leak. The leak had been reported in the vicinity of the London Tavern pub in Coltishall High Street. As he was investigating the leak, there was a massive gas explosion which blew him off his feet and he landed several metres away.
The Defendant in the case was Schememade Limited who admitted liability for cutting through the gas pipe whilst they were laying cable. As a result of legal action funded as part of Mr McLoed’s GMB membership and pushed through by Thompsons Solicitors, Mr McLoed won £230,000 compensation for the injuries he received in the course of his work.
Injured man was unable to return to work
50 year old Mr McLoed explains: “The explosion virtually demolished the pub. It was horrifying. I suffered neck injuries but my main injury was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD as it’s known. I tried to return to work because I really wanted to but I broke down at work some months later.”
“I’m devastated because I’ve not been able to return to that kind of work which I enjoyed so much. I’ve also developed a stutter and I now have difficulty in coping with jobs that require concentration which is very frustrating and debilitating.”
Ed Blissett, GMB Regional Secretary said, “This gas explosion could so easily have been avoided but instead seriously injured Danny and has wrecked his career. Unfortunately people are injured and killed at work every day and it only because Danny was a GMB member that he was able to get compensation for his injuries and distress. I urge all workers to join a trade union in case they are ever injured at work and need professional legal advice like that provided by the GMB through Thompsons Solicitors. The GMB's legal service is completely free to members. Without the backing of a trade union, legal representation can result in a substantial chunk of an injured person's compensation having to be paid over to a compensation claims firm or solicitor."
Representing Danny McLoed, Samantha Vallis from Thompsons Solicitors in Chelmsford comments: “If the explosion wasn’t enough, Schememade went on to serve surveillance evidence of Mr McLoed which made his PTSD even worse and led to a relapse due to the invasion of his privacy. We’re relieved that the case has settled and that justice has been secured for an innocent victim.”
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