COMPENSATION CLAIMS THAT STINK...

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The Met has paid thousands of pounds in compensation to a teenage boy dumped in a litter bin by a police officer. Anop Singh was hoisted over the shoulder of the plain-clothes constable and placed feet first in the bin after they exchanged words. The incident was filmed on a mobile phone by a friend of the boy but the officer escaped criminal charges and kept his job.

Instead, he was given a written warning following an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the incident outside Clissold Park, Stoke Newington, in October 2005. However, sources have revealed the force paid about £4,000 to the boy this year to compensate him for his ordeal.

Anop, of Stamford Hill, said the money would never make up for the "humiliation and distress" he suffered. He said, "It's not about the money. If I had done what that police officer did I'm sure I would have ended up in prison. I would rather he had been punished properly for what he did to me. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me."

The teenager, who plans to train as a plumber, said he accepted the cash because his solicitor told him it was his only option. He added, "I can't stand the fact that he got away with it and that he could do it to someone else." The incident was sparked when Anop and his friend, Pierre Cornwall, began filming police as they responded to reports of a group of youths throwing conkers at people in the park.

One Pc told Anop to move or he would put him in a bin, to which the boy replied, "You're going to put me in the bin? Go on then." The officer then carried out his threat as Pierre continued filming. The footage also showed a second officer making an offensive gesture. Anop threatened to sue and claimed other youths bullied him after the incident, branding him "bin boy".

Deborah Glass, IPCC commissioner for London, said written warnings for the two officers were appropriate because their actions were "clearly foolish" but "not malicious". But Anop's father, car mechanic Gurdev Singh, said, "We're not satisfied and I will always be angry about the way my son was tossed around like a piece of rubbish. The officer should have been sacked ... they are supposed to set an example." (Source: Daily Mail, Aug/07)

Taxpayers face a £200,000 bill after a mayor sued town hall bosses for damages in a row over breast feeding. Councillor Pauleen Lane claimed she was hauled before senior council staff after breast feeding her five-month old son Oscar in the back of her mayoral vehicle on her way to an official visit.

The Labour councillor told a court she was forced to follow behind the civic car when travelling to mayoral appointments with the tot, and forced to keep him out of sight. The car ban came after senior council figures responsible for looking after her complained when she breast-fed her baby in the foyer of the council chamber at Trafford Town Hall, Greater Manchester.

A sex discrimination case was brought to court, but Dr Lane offered to settle with the Trafford Council for a £5,000 charity donation. But two years after the offer was rejected, a judge ordered the council to pay £7,000 damages to Cllr Lane and cover her costs of up to £200,000 after agreeing it had sexually discriminated against her. (Source: Daily Mail, Aug/07)

An RAF typist who injured her thumb at work is to be paid almost half a million pounds by the Ministry of Defence. The civilian's award is almost 30 times the amount a serviceman would receive for the same injury. It is eight times more than a soldier would receive for losing a leg and almost double the amount he could expect if he lost both legs. The woman developed a repetitive strain injury while typing computer data. She claimed it left her unable to work and caused her to become depressed.

She sued the MoD and was awarded a total of £484,000 in compensation and associated costs. Legal sources estimated that her total costs for the action would be unlikely to amount to more than £50,000, meaning she would pocket about £434,000. It is almost double the £285,000 a soldier can expect if he loses two limbs while fighting for his country. The official tariff of compensation for injuries lists £28,750 for someone blinded in one eye, £57,500 for the loss of a leg and just £8,250 for injuries associated with surviving a gunshot wound. (Source: Daily Mail, Jul/07)

A commuter who suffered back injuries after slipping on a petal outside a florist's shop on a railway station concourse is claiming £1.5 million in damages. The amount has been demanded by lawyers representing bank worker Brian Piccolo after a High Court judge ruled in his favour over the fall which happened more than four years ago. The court heard how Mr Piccolo fell outside the Chiltern Flowers outlet on Marylebone Station's concourse in central London on March 10, 2003, as he was on his way to work at the nearby offices of BNP Paribas.

The shop's owner Bella Patel said losing the case could now bankrupt her and she further claimed there was no evidence that a petal from her flower shop was to blame. Mrs Patel added that she had spent 'around £40,000' fighting the long running case and faces 'financial ruin' if Mr Piccolo is awarded the sum he has claimed. Mr Piccolo arrived for the three day hearing at London's High Court using a walking stick and has claimed that he has not been able to work fully since the accident.

The court heard how one security guard told the court he had seen Mr Piccolo slip on a 'yellow petal' and went on to describe it as a 'killer'. Judge John Altman has ruled that staff at Chiltern Flowers should have cleaned up outside the shop, and owed Mr Piccolo a 'duty of care'. 'In the course of the shop's activities petals fell on to the concourse near the shop and I find that the presence of petals on this concourse floor presented a foreseeable hazard of slipping,' ruled the judge. (Source: Daily Mail, Jul/07)

Prisoners in England and Wales have been paid millions of pounds in compensation by the Prison Service, according to new figures. Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show the Prison Service paid £2.5 million in compensation payments to prisoners, not including legal costs. It reports that two jails, Wormwood Scrubs in London and Northallerton Young Offenders' Institution in north Yorkshire, were responsible for almost half the total.

Prisoners in 94 jails were compensated over claims of abuse, assault, unlawful detention and medical negligence, according to the report. The biggest single out-of-court payment was one for £575,000 to a male prisoner in Northallerton Young Offenders' Institution who had apparently attempted suicide, while Wormwood Scrubs settled another claim for £472,000. Reasons for these two payments were not revealed but were included in the category of injury claims for official misconduct and human rights' breaches.

The figures also showed £750,000 was paid to 197 heroin addicts who had their treatment withdrawn or cut short during their time in prison. The damages paid to the heroin addicts were approved by a High Court judge last year after their claims that the practice was an assault and breach of their human rights. (Source: Daily Mail, Jun/07)

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