黑洞社区

A blacklisted construction worker today told the High Court the 拢25m-plus of settlements paid by contractors to end the three-year case before a full hearing was 鈥渁 failure of the British justice system鈥�.

Roy Bentham, a 48-year-old carpenter from Liverpool, told a High Court hearing today that formally ended the case: 鈥淭his will be judged in time because this hasn鈥檛 been justice today.

鈥淚 look at the episode in this courtroom as a failure of the British justice system. A bit of compensation here and there is not justice.鈥�

Bentham had wanted to progress the case to a full hearing on his own, but the judge rejected his application and a subsequent request for the right to appeal, saying there were 鈥渘o grounds鈥� on which an appeal would succeed.

In recent weeks eight contractors known as the Macfarlanes Defendants - Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O鈥橰ourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and Vinci - have settled out of court with over 700 claimants, with pay-outs thought to total more than 拢25m. 

Bentham and some other members of victims鈥� group the Blacklist Support Group attended court today to protest both outside and inside the courtroom, at one stage disrupting proceedings with chants of 鈥渘o justice, no peace鈥�.

After the hearing finished, Bentham 鈥� who has also campaigned for justice from the Hillsborough inquest 鈥� told 黑洞社区 he will now take legal advice before potentially taking the case to the Supreme Court. He added: 鈥淚鈥檓 a Hillsborough survivor and the fight goes on.鈥�

Commenting on Bentham鈥檚 statement, a spokesperson for the Macfarlanes Defendants said: 鈥淭he settlement covered all of the claimants. As the judge said today, if there is a disagreement it is a matter between Roy Bentham and his solicitors.鈥�

The spokesperson added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a closed chapter. The industry has learned and changed as a result of this case. The Macfarlanes Defendants have put in place policies and training programmes to ensure this can never happen again.

鈥淲e are pleased to have reached an agreement so settlements can be paid without a lengthy court process, saving on cost for all parties.鈥�