A prisoner has been awarded £1,400 in compensation after he was bitten by a prison officer during a brawl.

David Hay was being moved to a new prison but had refused to leave Perth jail in Scotland without his quilt and in the ensuing argument was pinned to the floor and bitten in the back.

As a result of the incident, which left Hay with a bitemark for a fortnight, the Scottish Prison Service was ordered to pay the compensation on behalf of prison officer Kenny Kinnear, who carried out the act.

Hay, who served a seven-year term for culpable homicide, was cleared of a breach of the peace after he was accused of threatening Kinnear in the street after his eventual release from jail.

Earlier this week, a man who suffered a stroke after developing a drugs habit in jail was awarded compensation.

Ellis Sherwood had been wrongly convicted of murder and was awarded £1.4 million for what happened to him following the quashing of his conviction.

A leading judge has called for changes to be made in the way Fatal Accident Inquiries (FAIs) are conducted.

FAIs are public inquiries into fatal accidents, which are carried out in cases of suspicious or unexplained death.

Lord Cullen suggested that such inquiries should be made less formal and lawyers involved in the cases should no longer wear wigs and gowns.

The former lord president also said that FAIs should not be held in court anymore.

In his report related to Scotland, he stated: "My aim has been to set out practical measures for a system for inquiry into fatalities that is effective, efficient and fair."

His review into FAIs began in June 2008 and his findings also included the suggestion that a dedicated FAI team is set up.

Earlier this week, an inquiry in Scotland found that Paul Campbell, 25, of Eastriggs, had died in a quad bike accident due to the failure of a suspension unit on his vehicle, reports BBC News.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has issued a warning to remind people to take care during Bonfire Night.

It urged those hosting bonfires and fireworks displays to think about the safety of their spectators.

Nicola Butters, RoSPA’s home safety development officer in Scotland, said: "In previous years, about 1,000 people across Britain have had to go to hospital because they’ve been injured by a firework during the four weeks around Bonfire Night.

"Nearly half of such injuries are sustained at family or private parties."

She added that only adults should be allowed to set off fireworks and people needed to factor in the possibility of wet and windy conditions.

In another accident-prevention tip, the RoSPA urged party organisers not to use petrol or paraffin to light bonfires, but to stick to fire lighters instead.

The Liverpool Echo has reported that police are to man a fire engine in the city on Bonfire Night in an attempt to cut down on anti-social behaviour related to the event.

A firm in Scotland has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after one of its employees was seriously injured by a piece of machinery.

The unnamed man had been filling a Mobile Explosives Manufacturing Unit at Orica UK in Muirside when the accident occurred in February 2008.

He had been pouring emulsion into the machine when it suddenly blocked. As he reached in to clear the blockage, it unexpectedly started again and the man lost two of the fingers on his right hand.

An investigation by HSE officers found that the plant’s equipment was not properly guarded and there was no safe way to clear blockages that did occur. Orica UK was fined £10,000 for breaching health and safety regulations.

HSE Inspector Colin Hutchinson commented: "This was a serious and avoidable incident. All companies conducting similar operations must learn from this incident by making sure their safety procedures are both sufficient and rigidly followed."

According to statistics published by the HSE, 299,000 reportable injuries occurred at work between 2007 and 2008, resulting in the loss of six million working days.

The safety of unmanned railway crossings has been called into question after a fatal crash involving a car and a train.

Three elderly people were killed in Caithness on September 29th after their car was hit by a high speed train heading to Inverness, the Herald Scotland reports.

It is the same crossing that was at the centre of a similar accident in 2002, when Sarah Jappy was almost killed after driving onto the crossing and being hit by a train.

She is seeking compensation of £500,000 from Network Rail for her injuries and for the threat posed to her unborn baby, who was born while she was in a coma after the accident.

She maintains that if there had been a proper barrier in place at the level crossing, neither her accident nor the most recent one would have happened.

A spokesperson from Network Rail said: "All our level crossings are regularly inspected to check they are appropriate to the level of road and rail traffic in the area and we are confident the correct crossing is in place at Halkirk."

According to railway safety group the RSSB, the risk from signals passed at danger has reduced by over 85 per cent since 2001, while the risk to passengers from train accidents has reduced by more than 80 per cent.

A new system has been proposed in Scotland that would make compensation for clinical negligence easier to claim.

At present, patients injured as a result of medical treatment must prove responsibility or have the NHS trust involved admit to it, which can be a lengthy and complicated process.

However, health secretary Nicola Sturgeon is investigating whether a different system could be put in place that would allow patients to claim ‘no fault’ payouts.

This could lead to compensation for thousands of people who contracted superbugs such as MRSA in hospital.

The plans are to be proposed and discussed further in 2010.

Clinical negligence occurs when a professional in the health service provides care that is deemed to be below standard and this causes physical injury, death or distress.

Anyone who has suffered as a result of this should seek a solicitor specialising in clinical negligence claims in order to increase their likelihood of receiving a payout.

The family of a man who was crushed to death in a workplace accident in 2006 have been paid compensation for their loss.

Jose Maria Martos Fernandez was working as a fisherman at a harbour in Lochinver, Scotland, when the accident occurred, the Aberdeen Press and Journal reports.

The men were unloading boxes of fish using a winch when a wire rope snapped. Mr Fernandez was hit on the head and shoulders by the cargo and he died at the scene.

After an investigation into the incident, it was concluded that regular checks on the state of the rope, which had become corroded, would have revealed that it was unsuitable and the death could have been avoided.

Lagun Talde, the company which owned the boat, was prosecuted under health and safety regulations and was ordered to pay £50,000 in compensation to Mr Fernandez’s family.

According to the Health and Safety Executive, 229 workers were killed at work in 2007-08.

A woman is taking legal action against the operators of a chain of care homes after her father died in one of its branches due to the negligence of its staff.

William Taylor, 79, moved to Beechwood Park care home in Scotland after his Parkinson’s progressed and rendered him unable to live in sheltered accommodation, the Wee County News reports.

However, only six weeks after being admitted, he was taken to hospital with a blood infection resulting from bedsores and he died ten days later.

Mr Taylor’s family requested an investigation by the Care Commission and its subsequent report upheld all 15 of the complaints made against Beechwood.

It was found that Mr Taylor had not been given his Parkinson’s medication for several days at a time and that his assistance buzzer was consistently left out of his reach.

His daughter Moira Begg, 50, is now suing the care home in order to make sure the same thing does not happen to others.

"We [want] to highlight this for other families. I’d be really surprised if he’s the only person to suffer neglect in there," she commented.

Clinical negligence can occur in any environment where care is provided, not just hospitals. Anyone who has suffered as a result of this should seek legal advice as they may be eligible for compensation.

A former police officer who was hurt during a game of football has been awarded compensation for his injury.

George Smillie, 51, was on a training course at the Scottish Police College – which provides policing and support services to Scotland’s eight police forces and criminal justice community – where he was participating in football training.

He began to suffer a severe pain in his knee, which became worse over time, the Edinburgh Evening News reports.

Mr Smillie alleges that this eventually forced him into early retirement, although doctors originally ruled the injury was not work-related.

However, Mr Smillie took legal action against the Lothian and Borders force, maintaining that the football was compulsory and the injury was therefore sustained in the line of duty.

He has now been awarded a lump sum of compensation, believed to be in the region of £10,000, as well as money each year to backdate his pension.

A police spokesperson declined to comment, but Mr Smillie’s solicitors said he was "delighted" with the result.