Accident 'ruined' actor's career

Ken Moore was a member of the RSC and appeared in The Bill

A former Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) actor has said his career was ruined after he was knocked off his motorcycle by a hit-and-run car driver.

Ken Moore, of Middleton-on-Sea, West Sussex suffered brain damage, spinal cord injuries and post traumatic stress after the crash in London in 1995.

"I was about to join quite a big agency but they didn't want to talk to me any more after that," said Mr Moore, 40.

He is suing the government for more than £600,000 in compensation.

A High Court judge has reserved judgment in the case until after Easter following a hearing last week.

I got nowhere near what my barrister calculated I should get Ken Moore

"Half a minute or so after leaving the Elephant and Castle a car pulled out in front of me," he said.

"I was in a coma for a couple of weeks and woke up in St Thomas's Hospital with full spinal whiplash."

The car driver involved in the accident was never traced.

Mr Moore, who used the stage name Ken Dudley, had appeared in Shakespeare's Henry V on stage and The Bill on TV.

But he said he was "damaged goods" after the accident and has never worked again.

He was awarded £585,000 compensation from the Motor Insurers Bureau, which compensates the victims of negligent uninsured and untraced motorists.

However, he claims he would have got £605,000 more if a European directive on motor insurance had been brought into domestic law.

He is also seeking more than £350,000 in interest and legal costs.

Mr Moore said his original payment took five years to come through.

"Everything paid by the benefits agency during that time was deducted, plus my fees, so in fact I got a lot less than that.

"I got nowhere near what my barrister calculated I should get, according to my injuries," he said.

Counsel for the government, Jonathan Crow, told the court Mr Moore's case should be thrown out because the claim had been brought after the legal time limit.