Woman wins right to sue for £4.2m after injury at London gastropub

A woman has won the right to sue for £4.2m in the Appeal Court after she was hurt when she tripped over a low-lying beer garden marker rope at a Notting Hill gastropub.

Carmen Mazo, aged 43, a former HR consultant, claimed that the 2009 incident at the Westbourne pub had destroyed her successful career by leaving her unable to work, and had left her with post-traumatic arthritis, and wrist scars from surgery that could make her look like a self-harmer, reported the http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/woman-seeks-42m-after-tripping-on-rope-outside-notting-hill-gastropub-a3185746.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Evening Standard.

She also claimed that her mental health had been affected, causing her to suffer mood swings, a damaged social life and a negative change in personality compared with her former self.

Mazo said that she was off work for months following the incident, and was forced to give up her job entirely three years later. She also claims that she would have been earning £700 per day by now, but had instead been forced to start at the "bottom of the ladder", retraining in another career, due to the accident. She was unable to use her work as a "refuge" as she had previously, she said.

Although the pub had already admitted liability, with Mazo awarded £156,871 by the Central London County Court in 2013, Mazo was initially barred from taking her £4.2m claim further by Judge Heather Baucher, who said that the injury had not been bad enough to justify giving up work.

However, Mazo has now won the right to take the claim further, with Lord Justice Laws saying that Baucher could have been wrong. Mazo's barrister Peter Sefton QC stated: "Her wrist was badly injured, she made a remarkable recovery. The issue is what happens next."

The case is now set to go before three senior judges, although no date has yet been set.

Sebastian Boyle, the pub's owner, told The Caterer today that he could not comment on the incident, which was "all in the hands of the insurers", he said.

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