Injured cyclist gets record payout

A compensation payout believed to be the highest-ever of its kind has been paid to a former Commonwealth Games cyclist who will never be able to ride again due to injuries sustained in a car crash.

Manny Helmot, 39, has been paid just under £14 million after he suffered brain damage following a head-on collision with a car during training, his lawyer said.

The accident turned Mr Helmot's life upside down as he was left partly blind, can no longer use his right arm and has suffered a drastic personality change. He will require 24-hour care for the rest of his life.

The crash has also cut Mr Helmot's life expectancy by five years.

His mother Rose Helmot and her partner Ken Jordan, now his full-time carers, launched an appeal for compensation and were awarded just over £9m in January.

They appealed the figure saying it was not enough to cover his long-term care, and the Guernsey Court of Appeal increased it to just under £14m this week. The final amount is yet to be set.

The crash happened in Guernsey in November 1998 when Mr Helmot, who represented the Channel Island in the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games earlier that year, was just 28. He spent 36 weeks in hospital after being struck by a car driven by Dylan Simon, who was banned from driving after being convicted of dangerous driving.