Dubai girl wins compensation from doctor for assault

Dubai: A young girl who was hit by a doctor in his surgery has finally won her battle for compensation in the British courts more than three years after the incident happened.

Abu Dhabi resident Lana Al Samarai has been awarded £8,500 (Dh58,234) plus interest after she was struck by general practitioner Dr Martin Wolfson during a visit to his surgery in July 2003.

He lost his temper with Lana because she was struggling as he tried to take her temperature.

The money awarded will be invested and handed over to Lana who was just three years old when she was assaulted after she turns 18.

Wolfson received a caution from police for assault because of the incident, and was reprimanded by the UK's General Medical Council, which licenses doctors, but allowed to continue practicing.

The legal costs for the case are likely to exceed £50,000 (Dh342,523) and, along with the compensation, will be paid by the Medical Defence Fund, which represented Wolfson.

Lana's father, television executive Ali Fahmi Al Samarai, 40, a Briton of Iraqi origin, said he had not brought the civil case against Wolfson for the money.

"Whether the compensation was £8,000 or £80,000 it doesn't matter. I just wanted people to know what had happened," he said.

Lana is now aged six and by the time she reaches 18 the compensation figure is likely to have swelled to about £18,000 with interest.

The youngster, who has a sister Layal, aged eight, and a 10-month-old brother Seyf, became terrified of visiting doctors after the incident at Wolfson's clinic in Surrey, England.

Keith Barrett, an associate in the personal injury department at Irwin Mitchell, the legal firm that represented Lana, said the case would have been settled much earlier if Wolfson had not waited until late last year to admit he was at fault.

At that time, lawyers for Wolfson submitted an "amended defence" in which the doctor conceded he had assaulted Lana, made an increased offer of compensation and pledged to pay Lana's legal bills.

The compensation offer was approved on September 8 by District Judge Silverman at the Central London Civil Justice Centre after he spoke to Lana and her father using a video link.

"All Ali wanted the doctor to do was to admit blame and admit that what he did was wrong, and he finally did that."