Sponsored by
£3.5m in damages for Army fight mum
THE mother of twin boys who were left brain-damaged after complications during birth has won £3.5m in damages.
Lynne Steele took the Ministry of Defence to court on behalf of her sons Shane and Dean.
For years, Army lawyers denied liability, but have now admitted medical officer Dr Ian Anderson was negligent and failed in his duty of care to Mrs Steel when she went into labour.
The twins, now 18, are in line for the record payout.
Mrs Steele, of South Shore, who has written a book about her legal fight, said: "We have faced downright denial and prevarication over these long 13 years. In my terms it really has been a mother of all battles.
"But I wanted justice for my boys and now we have got it."
Mrs Steele was 30 weeks pregnant with the twins in May 1991 and was suffering stomach pains when she went to see Dr Anderson at the medical centre at 9pm, on the Army base at Fallingbostel, Germany.
Her then husband Cpl Mark Edwards was on active service in the Gulf War at the time.
She feared she was going into premature labour, but Dr Anderson would not see her and tried to diagnose her from what a nurse told him on the phone.
Mrs Steel was sent home and told to see the doctor the following morning.
Within five hours she was back at the medical centre about to give birth. She was rushed to a civilian hospital, where her sons were born brain damaged.
Mrs Steele said: "All I know is in my hour of need when I needed treatment at 9pm the night before the doctor did not turn out. I had had a baby before and knew what was happening.
"The German civilian hospital team were great, but there was nothing they could do to mend the damage done caused by the delay."
Mrs Steele and her family returned to the UK and under the burden of bringing up two handicapped twins her marriage broke up.
Her lawyer Warren Spencer, based in Blackpool, proved the Army doctor had been negligent in trying to diagnose over the phone, there was no management plan in place for multiple or premature births and the Army failed to organise special care facilities.
He argued had Mrs Steele been given steroid treatment and taken to a special care baby unit, the twins would not have suffered irreversible damage – tearing apart an Army assertion they would have been brain-damaged wherever they had been born.
Mr Spencer said: "We always considered the Ministry of Defence had been negligent and caused the twins' disabilities."
Mrs Steele's son Dean cannot walk, but has learned to drive an adapted car and goes to college where he is studying computer science.
He said: "There have been times when it has got her down like when the legal aid was going to be taken away and when the Army said they had done nothing wrong and hoped she would just go away.
"But she has just kept going."
His brother attends Myerscough Agricultural College, near Preston, where he studies conservation.
Mrs Steele has now re-married and she and husband Steve have a four-year-old son Sam.
A MoD spokesman said: "The MoD has admitted liability. Compensation has been agreed and this awaits authorisation by the High Court.
"Our thoughts are with the family and we regret any pain and suffering caused."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Blackpool
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
