Richard Borrett

Richard acts for both Claimants and Defendants in Clinical Negligence matters of substantial complexity and severity, both alone and as a junior. This includes disabling injuries, and fatal and life-shortening conditions.

Particular Areas of Expertise:

• Cancer diagnosis, especially issues of causation
• Negligent treatment in psychiatry, including Art.2 issues
• Maternity and Labour
• Secondary victim claims

Significant Cases

• Fetal developmental defects caused by chemotherapy in utero during first trimester (as junior to Satinder Hunjan QC).
• Delayed diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma in the knee, value £500,000
• Failure by GP to diagnose breast cancer, C required mastectomy and developed chronic post-surgical pain. Value £800,000
• Secondary victim claims by various family members of child who collapsed at home and died from undiagnosed sepsis
• Failure to diagnose nasal carcinoma leading to total rhinectomy, significant facial disfigurement, loss of smell and taste, etc. Value £300K
• Failure by dentist to refer to suspicious lesion, leading to delay in diagnosis or oral carcinoma, jaw resection, extensive reconstructive surgery.
• Negligent whole-brain radiation causing diffuse white matter brain injury, combined with negligent post-surgical drain removal causing necrotising pancreatitis, valued at £1,700,000.

Richard acts for all interested parties in Court of Protection cases, often those arising from s21A applications, but also where there is cross over with his other areas of practice in clinical negligence or personal injury.

He is particularly experienced at working with local authority professionals in cases involving vulnerable adults, through his inquests work.

Richard acts for families and other interested parties in all kinds of inquests, and has expertise in the application of Article 2 in both medical and non-medical inquests.

Richard has vast experience of inquests across the UK arising from a very wide range of circumstances. He has particular experience in:

• Medical/hospital deaths
• Military deaths (in the UK and abroad)
• ‘Safeguarding’ issues

Significant Cases

• Death of care-home resident who suffered from Korsakoff’s dementia and lacked capacity to make decisions as to care and treatment. He was permitted to decline all personal care, and over a period of many weeks developed a skin infection which developed into sepsis. Counsel to the Inquest instructed; likely to be listed with a Jury; 15 interested parties.
• Inquest into the Castlemartin tank incident (led by Michael Rawlinson QC). See media coverage here (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/02/corporals-died-in-tank-blast-after-officer-given-guest-experience-wales-inquest-hears) and here (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-44682846)
• Unexplained death of a vulnerable man in circumstances where safeguarding concerns had been raised with various agencies. Acting for local authority.
• Inquest into death of Jamie-Lee Sawyer on a kayaking exercise in Cyprus, when local weather warnings were not heeded. (https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/jamie-lee-sawyer-inquest-kayaker-13181794)
• Inquest into a domestic murder, where the schizophrenic offender had been referred to the duty social worker some weeks before the murder. Acting for local authority.
• Jury inquest into RTA death where pedestrian was walking in inside lane of motorway at night, having recently been stopped by the police.
• High profile inquest into death of Afghanistan veteran on exercise. The vehicle in which he was travelling overturned, and he was ejected: https://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/12927969.soldiers-death-at-cumbria-training-base-was-accidental-inquest-told/
• Neonatal death reported as a ‘stillbirth’, but which the coroner found was not.
• Death from meningitis which went undiagnosed and which was suffered shortly after spinal surgery.

Richard acts for both claimants and defendants in serious personal injury claims, exclusively at multi track level.

Particular Areas of Expertise

• Animals Act and Equestrian claims
• Military Injuries
• Secondary Victim claims
• Sexual/physical abuse claims

Significant Cases

Acting for the family of a spectator killed at a downhill mountain-biking event when a competitor left the course.

Claim against dog rehoming charity for rehoming a ‘pit bull type’ dog which went on to savagely attack the Claimant.

Acting for victim of historic sexual abuse by serving police officer (led by Satinder Hunjan QC)

Acting for 2 surviving occupants of the tank in the Castlemartin tank explosion (led by Michael Rawlinson QC).

Acting for victim of historic abuse by football coach.

Member of special forces injured in cycling accident, suffering various orthopaedic injuries and brain injury, subject to discharge, valued at £1,500,000.

Fatal Accidents Act claim on behalf of the family of a soldier killed on exercise in the UK, required consideration of the relationship between FAA damages and AFCS compensation. Settled at mediation.

Claim on behalf riding school employee who suffered complex fractures to his ankle when he was thrown from a horse.

Member of special forces suffering spinal injury on an exercise, claim pleaded at £3,500,000.