Lawford Kidd's Blog

A new report from Digital Trends has found that social media is being used by personal injury lawyers and defence teams to provide evidence regarding the claim.

While many people are aware of employers using social media to monitor activity and often bring an action against employees, according to Digital Trends, social media is playing a major role in many court cases. Lawyers and claimants are getting more evidence off of social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter to prove the extent of the injuries or the fraudulent nature of the claim.

The Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee has begun hearing evidence on the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Bill.

One of the key people to give evidence before the Committee is Lord Cullen of Whitekirk, who led the 2009 Review of Fatal Accident Inquiry legislation. The Committee also heard from Julie Love from ‘Death Abroad – You’re Not Alone’, Louise Taggart from ‘Families Against Corporate Killers’ and, Jimmy Jones, a retired RAF flight lieutenant who is now a campaigner.

The Bill’s main objective is to reform and modernise the law governing the holding of fatal accident inquiries (FAIs) in Scotland, and to implement the recommendations made in Lord Cullen’s 2009 Review.

A 25-year-old rugby union player has died after suffering a blow to the head when he made a tackle during a match in a first-grade match in New South Wales.

Nicolas Tooth collapsed after his head collided with another players’shoulder. Despite receiving treatment at the scene and being airlifted to hospital, he died the next day as a result of his injury.

The president of the Quirindi Lions football club, the club Tooth played for, said: “It really was just a tragic accident, Nick went in to tackle an opponent and his head clashed with [the opponent’s] shoulder and he went down,”Murray added: “There was no foul play, nothing untoward about it at all, sadly it was just a very tragic accident.”

The French Network Rail Company, SNCF, has called for the police to take action following a near miss at the Paris-Roubaix bike race.

Numerous riders opted to cycle across a level crossing despite the barriers going down and the warning lights at a crossing. A policeman on a motorbike prevented any further cyclists crossing as a high-speed train passed seconds later.

The rail network SNCF has since called for police to take criminal action against those who neglected to obey the barriers and the crossing warning system after the race was broadcast to millions across the world. The rail company urged the police to take action for what they saw as a clear breach of safety rules.

The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland has been fined £100,000 following the death of a three-year-old boy at the Royal Highland Show at Ingliston in June 2008, reports the BBC.

Ben Craggs had been attending the show with his parents when he apparently grabbed hold of a rope between two bollards in one of the car parks at the showground. One of the bollards, which weighed 148kg, toppled over on top of him, causing severe head injuries. Ben was taken to hospital, but later died of his injuries.

A jury at Edinburgh Sheriff Court found that the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, which had organised the Highland Show, was guilty of failing to ensure that the bollards were “provided and maintained in a condition and connected in a manner which did not present a risk of overturning,” reports the BBC.