As I read this with bleary eyes at 1 30 AM in the morning,I can only wonder what the fuck is going on with the "Daily Telegraph".
This story has been reported on radio just now and the text below is how it appears.
The way that this is presented indicates a rushed out attempt to sell papers,but this story will lead all news in the morning.
Despite the grammatical errors.
If it is true then,well,...I just don't know anymore.
........................................................................................................
EXCLUSIVE
$100,000 for falling out of bed
By TONY WALL
LINK TO STORY
September 1, 2003
A PRISONER who injured himself in a fall from his bunk bed has won more than $100,000 in compensation from taxpayers.
Former prisoner Craig Ballard, jailed for the vicious assault of a woman, successfully sued the State of NSW after he fell out of the bunk in his cell at Grafton Correctional Centre.
He suffered a serious head injury and claimed negligence
on the part of the Corrective Services Department was to blame. The bunk had not been properly bolted down.
The Crown decided not to fight the case -- believed to be the first of its kind -- and now taxpayers will foot the bill.
The terms of the Crown's out-of-court settlement with Ballard -- finalised last week -- are confidential, but The Daily Telegraph has learned that he will pocket at least $100,000.
But the Grafton man told The Daily Telegraph the total was "a bit more than that".
The six-figure payout is the after he sued NSW Health for releasing him prior to the killing. Presland claimed that the doctor who freed him breached his duty of care.The case prompted the Government to act to prevent such claims.
And The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the Ballard case has led to proposals to limit the rights of prison inmates to make claims.
Inmates currently have the right to claim under the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act, but they must establish negligence on the part of Corrective Services.
They can't make victims' compensation claims -- so they can't sue if they are bashed in jail.
Ballard's accident occurred in Grafton Correctional Centre periodic detention unit in 1999 when he was at the end of a six-month weekend detention sentence for assault.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph at his Grafton Housing Commission home, he said he couldn't recall what happened.
It had been, he said, his last night in the unit. He went to sleep on a top bunk and the next thing he knew he was in hospital two days later.
Describing his injuries, Ballard said he had to learn to talk again and the past four years were "hell". He had suffered mental problems, concentration lapses and needed treatment and medication.
He had also been unable to work and was claiming a disability benefit.
Ballard said he had claimed negligence because the bunk was not bolted to the wall as it should have been and did not have safety bars on the edge.
"I don't usually sleep on top bunks, I don't like them," he said.
Crown solicitor Ali Nasseri said the state had agreed to settle after weighing up the risks and possibilities if the case had gone to court.
In the past, the state decided on principle against settling cases.
In 2001, taxpayers faced a legal bill when a paedophile wanted to sue the department for refusing him a sex change while in custody.
The Government refused to pay.