A paperboy who suffered a brain injury after being hit by a lorry has been told he is entitled to compensation.

Joshua Smith had applied for the position at the Co-op in Staffordshire just after his 13th birthday in 2005, the Staffordshire Sentinel reports.

However, days after beginning the job, he was hit by a vehicle being driven by Mark Hammond.

The victim suffered a fractured pelvis, an open head wound, a ruptured kidney, bruised lungs, cuts and bruises and a brain injury.

He now has short-term memory problems and is likely to need care later in life.

This week, a judge deemed that Mr Hammond was partly responsible for the accident as his brakes were faulty.

The amount of compensation Joshua will be entitled to is to be decided at a later date.

According to the Department for Transport, there were 28,572 people killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads in 2008.

A woman has been awarded compensation of £300,000 after her husband died from the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

Michael Streets left school in 1963 and got a job as an apprentice oil fitter at Fawley Refinery, the Southern Daily Echo reports.

Although he left the company in 1975, Mr Streets said he recalled there being no safety measures in place to protect employees against the danger of asbestos. In fact, he said in a statement before he died that workers used to have ’snowball’ fights with the fibres and that the air was thick with deadly dust.

Mr Streets contracted mesothelioma and died in December 2007. His widow Francis took legal action against the Esso Petroleum Company and it recently admitted liability.

She is to be awarded £300,000 in compensation for her loss.

Asbestos-related cancers typically affect five times as many men as women because they are often the result of working in industries that used the materials in the 1960s, Cancer Research UK attests.

A man from Barrow-in-Furness is to be paid compensation after using a vibrating tool at work left him with a permanent injury.

John Sides, 44, was an employee at cleaning products manufacturer Robert McBride and had been using a grinder to remove paint from a floor, the Workplace Law Network reports.

After using the equipment for two days, Mr Sides began to suffer problems with his shoulder and now has permanent symptoms associated with hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).

He took legal action against the company because he had not been given any training on how to use the grinder and because his injuries have left him unable to do his decorating job properly.

Robert McBride admitted negligence and agreed to a compensation payout of £17,500.

Spokesman for the trade union GMB Tom Brennan said: "Had his employer taken more care to give him training on how to use the tool correctly to minimise vibration, this accident could have been avoided."

Last month, GP Martin Scurr said in an article for the Daily Mail that anyone who has developed work-related HAVS should look into making a compensation claim because it is a recognised industrial disease.

A man who had to give up his job as a refuse collector after being injured in a fall has been awarded compensation for the accident.

Alan Shambrook, 55, was collecting rubbish in July 2005 when he tripped over a damaged section of the footpath in Stevanage.

He badly hurt his shoulder and elbow, as well as his left knee. The victim had to take 15 months off work and was forced to change jobs because he cannot lift his arms above his head.

"The injury has been painful and changed my life dramatically," Mr Shambrook commented.

He took legal action against Hertfordshire County Council for not maintaining the pavement properly and has now been awarded £57,000 in compensation.

Local councils are responsible for keeping their footpaths and roads in safe order and regular checks must be carried out by officials to make sure of this.

Anyone who has been injured on a section of pavement that has not been checked may be eligible to make a claim for compensation.

A bus driver who suffered terrible injuries in a head-on collision between his bus and a van has been awarded a compensation payout.

James Morton, 60, was driving in Seaton Burn, Northumberland when the accident occurred in April 2007, the Evening Chronicle reports.

The van came towards the bus on the wrong side of the road, leaving Mr Morton with nowhere to go. In the resulting crash, his left leg was shattered below the knee and he narrowly avoided having to have it amputated.

The victim lost his job because he was unable to drive and can still only walk short distances with the assistance of a walking stick.

His passengers sustained minor injuries.

Mr Morton took legal action against the driver of the van and the responsible party’s insurers have now agreed to a £250,000 payout.

"You can’t put a price on an injury like that, but it’s some consolation. I was planning to work until I was 65, but that’s been cut short," the victim said.

Anyone who is injured in a road accident that is not their fault may be eligible for compensation and should seek legal advice.

A former manager at a Birmingham hospital has been awarded £370,550 plus £24,000 a year for life after successfully claiming that his job left him stressed.

The unnamed man, who worked at City Hospital, retired in 1996 but filed a claim shortly afterwards, the Birmingham Post reports.

He alleged that he had been unable to enjoy his retirement and felt psychologically injured by his years of work in the NHS.

This week, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust agreed to the payout after a long legal battle.

The trust declined to comment beyond confirming that the money had been set aside for the victim’s payout.

Earlier this month, nurse Juliet Satterthwaite was awarded £6,500 in compensation after becoming the victim of an attack by a patient in hospital.

He was already known to be dangerous to staff, but the nurse had been assigned to watch him overnight without any additional help from trained employees.

Compensation is to be paid to the family of a man who died from the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

The unnamed victim took a job in a factory between 1970 and 1976 and despite the knowledge that asbestos was dangerous, was not given any protective equipment or warnings about the dangers of exposure in the course of his work.

He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2005 and decided to pursue a claim against his former employers. Although the man died before it could be completed, his family pursued the case.

The company’s insurers have now agreed to a payout of £162,000 for the family’s loss.

Asbestos-related industrial diseases typically affect five times as many men as women, according to Cancer Research UK. Figures published by the Centre for the Study of Environmental Cancer show that Britain has one of the highest incidences of mesothelioma in the world.

Anyone affected should contact a solicitor to see if they are eligible to make a claim for compensation.

A man who said his life has been ruined after he contracted E. coli on holiday has been awarded a compensation settlement of £750,000.

Carl Riley unknowingly ate a contaminated burger while on holiday in Sharm el Sheikh in October 2004.

He became seriously ill with stomach cramps, but the worst injuries were to his kidneys, which are now permanently damaged. Mr Riley now needs dialysis three times a week and has had to give up his job.

The victim’s life expectancy has also been reduced by the effects of the E. coli bug.

Mr Riley decided to take legal action against First Choice – the company which organised the holiday – and it has now agreed to a payout to cover lost earnings, loss of future earnings, loss of pension, the cost of travelling for dialysis and help with maintenance on his home.

"The money will ease the financial burden, but what happened to me destroyed my life," Mr Riley remarked.

According to the BBC, fewer than 100 tiny E. Coli 0157 organisms can cause illness and seven per cent of victims go on to suffer permanent and severe kidney damage.