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Hot under the collar over ruling
A SHEFFIELD man who launched a £400,000 legal action over a broken collar bone claims he has been waiting for the case to be decided – for 10 years.
Paul Heathcote, who still suffers complications after being injured in a street attack, thought he had lost his claim for medical negligence against the NHS at Sheffield County Court in 1999.
After almost a decade amassing fresh evidence he enquired about launching an appeal in December last year – only to be told there had never been a judgement against him in the first place.
Now Paul, aged 47, of Ulverston Road, Woodseats, is demanding justice in the form of a decision – or a re-trial.
He said: "There's been an almighty cock-up, my case has been adjourned for 10 years. I thought I had lost, whereas in fact it was never closed.
"I can't appeal something that doesn't officially exist, I'm in limbo until the court decides how it is going to rectify the situation."
Paul launched his medical negligence claim in 1990 after being unhappy with his treatment. It eventually came to trial in 1999.
He spent four days representing himself and afterwards received a 10-page document – on unheaded paper – which set out reasons why the judge was going to dismiss his case.
For years Paul believed this was the official judgement. But only when he decided to appeal did he discover it was apparently a draft.
He claims the court is unable to produce a final judgment and Trial Order, which, according to legal rules, must state the name and judicial title of the person who made it, bear the date it was delivered formally in court and be sealed by the court.
The Star requested a copy of the judgment in Mr Heathcote's case from the county court and received a 10-page document.
But it appears not to be on an official form. Neither does it state the decision and it isn't sealed with an official county court date stamp.
A court spokesman insisted it was a judgment but was unable to say when it was made, handed down in court, or stamped.
He added: "The court files have been destroyed in accordance with our file retention schedule – and therefore the information is no longer retained."
But The Star has a copy of the district judge's print out which shows the court has a record of every event from when Mr Heathcote first issued a writ in 1993 – apart from details of the trial or final judgement.
Mr Heathcote deserves an answer.
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Weather for Sheffield
Wednesday 23 May 2012
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