Payout for cyclist hit by car

A cyclist who was hit by an unaccompanied learner driver has received £2.45 million in personal injury compensation.

Hamish McCullough, a student at Oxford Brookes University, was twenty-four when he was knocked off his bike in July 2001 by Gordon Mitchell.

McCullough was cycling along Fawler Road, near Uffington, when he was struck by the wing mirror of Mitchell's Peugeot 205. He was thrown from the saddle and suffered a fractured skull, which led to a ruptured artery and eventual brain damage.

Mr McCullough was hospitalised for a year after the accident and now requires twenty-four-hour medical care. He appeared in court in a wheelchair.

Mitchell, who was using a provisional licence, failed to stop after the accident and, in March 2002, was given a two-year jail term for that and perverting the course of justice. The Court of Appeal freed him in September 2002 when judges halved the jail term.

Mr McCullough's father Peter made the successful claim for compensation on Hamish's behalf. His solicitor approached the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB), the official motor insurer's body that compensates victims of un-insured and un-traceable drivers.

Mr McCullough was awarded £2,450,000 as a lump sum and will receive £120,000 a year for life to cover the cost of his ongoing medical care. The amount was slightly less than expected as the MIB disputed liability after claiming that Mr McCullough should have been wearing a helmet.