Injured welder wins compensation

Mr Graham worked for a Dundee-based company

A welder who tripped over metal tubing and smashed his elbow has been awarded £136,000 in damages.

Wilson Graham, 52, took his employers to court claiming his injuries ruined his chances of getting a good job.

Dundee-based Richard Lawson Autologistics admitted breaching workplace safety rules.

The Court of Session in Edinburgh had heard how Mr Graham was working at the firm's Kirriemuir premises, overhauling a car transporter, when he fell.

The company, which contested the amount Mr Graham was claiming for lost wages, also claimed he was partly to blame for not looking where he was going.

The court heard how Mr Graham, of Ashgrove Terrace, Rattray, was injured while carrying a large sheet of steel to a guillotine in January 2002.

'High work ethic'

He had to follow a red line along the floor which marked his route because the metal sheet, carried in front of him, obstructed his view.

He fell face first after standing on a piece of discarded tubing.

Judge Lord McEwan heard that Mr Graham would have been made redundant 10 months after the accident.

But workmates told the court he would have found another welder's job if he had been fit.

Lord McEwan said in a written ruling that Mr Graham was "held in esteem" by others well qualified to make an assessment.

"It is clear from this undisputed evidence that Mr Graham has had a high work ethic," he stated.

The welder was now reduced to taking "a pensioner's job" - working 16 hours a week at a local garage.