Compensation for car crash victim

A Hertfordshire woman left barely aware of the world around her after a car crash has won more than £1m compensation at the High Court.

Tizzy Ellattaoui, aged 32 from Hemel Hempstead, was a passenger in a car driven by her boyfriend Neil Sullivan in April 1999 when he lost control.

Mr Sullivan was killed in the accident on the A418 in Thame, Oxfordshire.

The court awarded Ms Ellattaoui a lump sum of £750,000 and an index-linked £73,000 a year for life.

Ms Ellattaoui, who was 24 at the time of the accident, is looked after 24 hours a day in a care home near her home.

'Catastrophic injuries'

Her counsel, Mr Colin McCaul QC, told the court in London that her injuries were "catastrophic" and she was "at best, in a minimal consciousness state".

Through her mother, Houria El-Nahas of Highfield, Hemel Hempstead, Ms Ellattaoui sued her boyfriend's estate and the Motor Insurers Bureau, the body which compensates victims of uninsured drivers.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Maddison said: "Any action in which a claimant suffers such catastrophic injuries as these is bound to impact on many people's lives.

"The principal impact has been felt by her mother.

"I would express my admiration for the considerable fortitude with which she has coped."