I Guess I Was Wrong – Roll On, Compo Culture Bandwagon!

The 79-year-old spotted the pies at a Morrison's supermarket and called out to her husband that she had found them as she stepped forward to reach them, but then fell over the low unattended flatbed trolley.

Mrs Palfrey, of Callington, Cornwall, remains disabled, with one arm shorter than the other, and it was over two years before she could carry out even basic domestic tasks.

Yesterday, Appeal Court judges awarded the traumatised pensioner, who still has to take pain killers, £44,000 damages, ruling that the trolley, which had been left in the centre of an aisle when the stacker went off to help another customer, was dangerous.

I... What? I thought we were kicking this compo culture stuff into touch at long last?

Now the trolleys used at thousands of DIY stores and supermarkets have been declared 'dangerous' by top judge Lord Justice Moses.

In a ruling which threatens to cost retailers millions, Lord Justice Moses said that low-slung, L-shaped, flatbed trolleys - of the type ubiquitous in Homebase, Ikea and other stores - pose a foreseeable risk of serious injury to shoppers.

 It's not going to 'cost retailers millions', is it? Those costs will be passed on to us, the consumer.

Lord Justice Moses said: 'Shoppers walking up and down aisles in supermarkets are expected to be attracted by what is on the shelves; they do not expect to have to look towards the ground.

'Their attention will be on their shopping and other shoppers.

'Mrs Palfrey was intent on indicating to her husband that she had found the pork pies and all of that would have deflected her attention away from the long, low-based, trolley.'

Oh, FFS..! These things aren't small! Or easy to miss, so long as people are sensible. Just how are shops supposed to restack the shelves without them?

Maybe Mrs Palfrey should have been less intent on the pies and more on what was going on around her?

On top of Mrs Palfrey's damages, Morrisons now face having to pay the enormous legal costs of the case, which have been estimated at close to £200,000.

Except they won't. As I've already pointed out.

So, thanks for nothing, Mrs Palfrey. Next time I go to Morrisons, I'll have you to thank for the increased prices and the fact the staff haven't restocked the shelves quickly...

Still, at least she didn't get a staggering £800k!