Cheltenham girl to get 23 million pound payout

A Cheltenham school girl who suffered severe injuries in a road crash which killed her mother, has won a record compensation payout worth up to 23 million pounds. 17-year-old Agnes Hood was left paralysed in the crash on the A40 in March 2009.

48-year-old Karen Hood was killed when a car driven by Anthony Norton, of Hazelton, in Gloucestershire, pulled out of a side road forcing Mrs Hood to swerve into the path of a lorry.

Norton admitted causing death by driving without due care and attention. He was handed a suspended jail sentence, banned from driving for 18 months and ordered to do 300 hours' unpaid community work in 2009. The court heard at the time that Agnes had forgiven him and did not want to see him jailed.