Crash victim 'could get £500k'

A MOTHER badly injured in a crash partly caused by a poorly maintained road verge could receive £500,000 compensation after an Appeal Court ruling.

Judges said West Sussex County Council breached the duty it owed to Sarah Russell, 53, who now lives in Moffat, near Dumfries.

The council argued it was being unfairly burdened with an impossibly high standard of highway maintenance, but the judges found West Sussex 50 per cent liable for Mrs Russell's injuries.

She was in a coma for five months after the crash.

Mrs Russell was driving on a frosty morning in March 2004 when her VW Golf left the A29 and hit a tree. While within the speed limit, it was accepted she was going too fast for conditions.

Husband Colin, 54, a solicitor, said she was likely to win half a million pounds or more.