A former electrician who suffered a head injury and fractures to his left arm when he fell 10 feet from a ladder has secured £320,000 in damages with support from Thompsons Solicitors. 

Phillip Barrigan, 58, was contracted by Scarborough-based maintenance firm EMCE to carry out electrical maintenance work across sites in Yorkshire. On one job, the ladder Phillip was working on suddenly lost grip and slipped from its position, causing him to fall 10 feet onto concrete below.   

He was immediately taken to hospital where he had surgery on a fractured arm and treatment for injuries to his head, lip, thigh and hand. Despite surgery, Phillip continued to suffer pain in his arm, and ended up having a further three operations. Complications from the surgeries caused a series of infections, leaving him with permanent scarring and a disability. 

Phillip also suffered psychological trauma and has not been able to return to work since the accident nearly four years ago.

“The pain I’ve suffered since my fall has been agonising,” said Phillip. “I’ve had multiple operations and physiotherapy to help me regain movement in my arm, but I know it will never be the same as before the fall.” 

He instructed serious injury specialists, Thompsons Solicitors, to investigate a compensation claim. Thompsons secured £320,000 for Phillip, including welfare benefits and interim payments for physiotherapy and psychotherapy. 

He added: “My employer kept challenging my claim and said that the accident was my fault, but I knew it wasn’t. Having to deal with my injuries was stressful enough but to be accused of lying was another blow from an employer I’d been loyal to for seven years. 

“The support I received from Thompsons was outstanding and without my solicitor’s guidance and advice I don’t know what I would have done.” 

Simon Wilson, National Practice Lead of Serious Injury claims at Thompsons Solicitors, said: “This has been a very traumatic time for our client, which was made worse by his employer’s reluctance to accept responsibility for providing him with inadequate equipment to work with. Initially, Phillip’s employers indicated that they would accept full responsibility but later they changed their mind and tried to blame Phillip for the accident, which caused him great distress at a time when he should have been concentrating on his recovery and rehabilitation. 

“We had to commence court proceedings on Phillip’s behalf, in order to secure interim payments to fund his treatment and therapies, and eventually to secure the compensation that he deserved. 

“All employers have a responsibility to ensure that their staff are fully trained and operating in safe workplaces. Unfortunately for Phillip, the lack of care taken by EMCE has left him with a painful injury and a fear of returning to a job he used to love.”