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More than just money – the unnecessary death of Mr Mark Bonehill, age 43.

Without Legal Aid, the family of Mr Mark Bonehill would not have received a penny of their £300,000 compensation and the mistakes at the hospital that caused his death could still be happening now.

When Abigail Bonehill and her mother Karen, Mr Bonehill’s daughter and widow respectively, first approached Williamsons Solicitors in 2009, they only had a suspicion that the medical care provided to the late Mr Mark Bonehill at Hull Royal Infirmary was negligent, resulting in his unnecessary death.

Despite pursuing an NHS complaint, the subsequent investigation was only cursory and failed to identify the serious errors in Mark’s care that led to him dying from a pulmonary embolism.

With the support of Legal Aid, Williamsons Solicitors was in a position to obtain independent expert evidence and this was very critical of Mark’s treatment.

If the government’s proposed Legal Aid changes were already in place, Williamsons Solicitors says it could not have obtained a Legal Aid certificate to investigate a case on their behalf.

Eventually, the firm negotiated a £300,000 settlement on behalf of Mark’s family.

Furthermore, changes were made at the Hull Royal Infirmary to prevent similar mistakes in the future.

If Legal Aid had not been available, it is unlikely that this case would have been pursued.

As a result:

*The true reasons for Mr Bonehill’s death would not have been uncovered,

*No future changes would have been made at the Hull Royal Infirmary and

*Mr Bonehill’s family would not have received the compensation to which they were entitled.

Even if Williamsons Solicitors had agreed to investigate matters, the compensation would have been reduced by £21,000, to contribute towards legal costs.

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