Lawford Kidd's Blog

A national care home provider and one of its employees have been prosecuted after a young woman suffered full thickness burns to more than 40% of her body from a scalding bath.

The incident occurred at a care home in Bathgate, and left 32-year-old Nicola Jones requiring major surgery, including amputation of all her toes. She was also left without any flesh on her ankles. She now has to use a wheelchair and faces more corrective surgery.

Livingston Sheriff Court heard that one of the care support workers failed to check the temperature of the water before Nicola got in the bath.

Human factors continue to significantly outweigh other reasons for crashes on British roads, according to new analysis by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM). The road safety group has renewed its call for drivers to look on improving driving skills as part of their lifelong personal development.

Figures from the Department of Transport apparently show that in 2014 driver/rider error or reaction were cited as contributory factors in 74% of accidents, involving more than 117,000 casualties.

The second highest factor was ‘behaviour or inexperience’, which was cited as a contributory factor in 26% of accidents, accounting for more than 40,000 casualties.

Specialist heath and safety experts are calling for farmers in Northern to take the necessary steps to help protect those in the agricultural sector from being injured or even killed.

Between 2004 and 2013, 76 people have died as a result of work-related farming incidents in Northern Ireland, while since the start of 2014, in excess of 40 people have died whilst working in agriculture in Ireland. Between 2014-2015, in the UK as a whole, more than 70 farmers have died in such accidents.

More people have perished in 2015 whilst trying to take a self-portrait photograph (more commonly known as a selfie), than from a shark attack.

What is a selfie?

Self-portraits are nothing new in art, but taking photos of ourselves and posting them on social media is a relevant recent trend, followed by both members of the general public and celebrities such as Kim Kardashian.

A woman has received compensation amounting to around £145,000 after she was seriously injured when a car hit the moped she was driving, reports the Birmingham Mail.

The incident happened in Birmingham in July 2011. Sarah Forbes was on her moped when she was hit by a car that had pulled out of a side road. She sustained serious injuries, including a crushed sciatic nerve and dislocated hip, which required surgery to fix.

Ms Forbes spent a total of 20 days in hospital, and then was reliant on care from her family for a while. She has been left with restricted mobility and frequently relies on a zimmer frame or wheelchair to help her get around.  In addition, she had to give her up her job because the pain she suffered in her legs was so severe.