Death of David Gray – Civil Claims Settlement

The family of David Gray, the Cambridgeshire man who was unlawfully killed by an on-call German doctor, has accepted a compensation figure £40,000; close to the maximum payable in UK law. Inez Brown from Anthony Collins Solicitors, who represents the Gray family explains; “Case law in this country puts a ceiling on compensation figures in the region of £15,000 to £20,000. “David Gray died within minutes of being given a massive overdose of the painkiller, Diamorphine. His tragic death was a result of negligence and incompetence. However, he died relatively quickly and without prolonged suffering, which means that under UK law, we would normally expect a compensation payment for pain and suffering arising out of a clinical negligence case like this to be around £5,000 to £10,000.” “However, when we were originally instructed in this matter, we quickly made an assessment that the family’s human rights had been infringed. Therefore rather than just pursuing a clinical negligence claim we decided to also investigate a claim under the Human Rights Act. Because of this we were able to secure a compensation figure above what’s normal in this country.” Stuart Gray, David Gray’s son, commented on behalf of the family; “My father was killed and £40,000 does seem a small sum for the loss of a life, especially when compared to countries like the US; it’s disappointing the value that is put on a life. However, we’ve never been interested in the money, the major issue for us is pressing for a change to regulations in this country to prevent a repeat of the situation that led to my father’s death.” Inez Brown continues to represent the Gray family in this case where the matter of costs is still to be settled.

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