Council told to pay £88k out to nurse hit on head by a chisel

Compensation Judge Lord Braid made the ruling in a written judgement issued at the Court of Session

- JAMES MULHOLLAND

Local authority bosses who accepted their employees’s actions caused a staff nurse to suffer debilitating injuries have been ordered to pay her more than £80,000 compensation.

Renfrewshire Council will now have to give a total of £88,693 over to Tracey McFadyen following proceedings at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

Judge Lord Braid made the ruling in a written judgement issued at Scotland's highest civil court on Tuesday.

The mum of two took the council to court following an incident at her brother's home in Linwood, on October 6, 2021.

The court heard how Ms McFadyen, who was then aged 48, was “suddenly and without warning” struck on the head by a chisel which fell 30 feet from the roof of the house where council staff had been working.

Lord Braid also heard how the orthopaedic nurse had bent down to wipe dirt off her trainers when the implement, which was 2.5 feet long and weighed around four kilograms, smashed off the right side of her head.

She was taken to hospital for treatment and in the weeks following the incident, the court heard how she didn’t sleep well and vomited.