London: A former Tottenham player who suffered catastrophic brain damage when he had a cardiac arrest while representing the club’s youth team won his multi-million-pound High Court damages action on Monday.
Radwan Hamed, now 26, had signed on as a professional with Tottenham just three days before his collapse, aged 17, during a youth team game in Belgium in August 2006.
Hamed’s father, Raymon, claimed his son’s injuries resulted from the negligence of Dr Peter Mills, who screened Radwan, and of the club — through Dr Charlotte Cowie and Dr Mark Curtin, specialist sports physicians it employed.
Tottenham is vicariously liable for the actions of Dr Cowie and Dr Curtin, but it was agreed during the case that it would be indemnified by their insurers in respect of any damages.
Ruling that the club was 70 per cent liable and Dr Mills 30 per cent, and that compensation should now be assessed, the judge said that Dr Cowie, who was head of the medical services department, made a serious error of judgement when she concluded that the teenager bore no risk of an adverse cardiac event.
Damages, which could reach £7 million (Dh39.58 million) according to the BBC, are to be decided next week.
After the ruling, Raymon Hamed said: “We are very happy today because we have been waiting for this a long time. We are very relieved.”
A spokesperson for Tottenham said: “The club wholeheartedly regrets that a former employee, as adjudged, was remiss in their duties to Radwan.
“This judgement will hopefully now secure the best possible treatment and care for him. The club has been supportive of Radwan and his family over the past 10 years and we wish them well for the future.”
“On any view, this was tragedy writ large,” said Justice Hickinbottom, who was ruling on the issue of liability.
