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A road crash victim who had his compensation bid blocked - because a legal document was served just one day too late - has had his hopes of a substantial payout restored by top judges.
Stephen Cain, suffered orthopaedic injuries when his motorbike collided head-on with a car that pulled out into his path in August 2004.
Despite much gruelling reconstructive surgery, he remains badly disabled by his injuries and has never been able to return to work. He looked certain to win six-figure compensation when motor insurers for the other driver involved in the smash admitted full liability. But that was before a solicitor's "simple oversight" led to Mr Cain's claim form - the document that launches any compensation case - being served a day after the expiry of the three-year time limit that applies to personal injury claims.
Then, in November last year, Mr Cain suffered every litigant's worst nightmare when a county court judge refused to waive the "limitation period" and dismissed his damages claim. By that time, Mr Cain had received interim damages payments from the insurers, to pay for the rehabilitation and care he needed. But the court heard that, with his claim formally dismissed, the other party's insurers had sought repayment of almost £90,000 from Mr Cain. However, three top judges ruled that the county court had got it wrong and it was "fair and just" that the strict time limit should be waived in his case.