f=Clarion MT s=10 w=10 l=10.5A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy left brain damaged after complications during his birth at Enfield's Chase Farm Hospital won a record £3.5 million compensation deal on Monday.o

Seven-year-old Anthony Michaels, from Enfield, was starved of oxygen during the build-up to his delivery at the hospital in September 1994 after his neck became constricted by the umbilical cord.

The compensation, won at the High Court, will be paid by the hospital's managing health trust, which earlier admitted liability.

Representing the family in court, Gary Burrell QC said that the £3.5million settlement was "one of the highest" he had come across for a case involving birth injuries.

Anthony's lawyers argued that medical staff had been negligent in failing to ensure that the baby's heart-rate was regularly monitored by a CTG trace.

Anthony, who lives with his mother, Pasqualina, suffers from spastic quadriplegia, with all four limbs affected by uncontrollable movements.

He cannot stand or sit without assistance, will require intensive speech therapy in the future and has "serious problems with auditory and visual attention."

The court heard how despite his disabilities Anthony remained an intelligent boy with "full insight into his condition".

He was described as a "delightful young boy, cheeky with a lively sense of humour."

Defence counsel Richard Booth issued a "whole-hearted and unreserved apology" on the trust's behalf, while the judge, Mr Justice Wright, approved the settlement and gave Anthony's family his best wishes for the future.

Anthony's counsel Gary Burrell QC said the tragedy and its aftermath had taken a heavy toll on the family and paid tribute to the care and devotion lavished on Anthony by his mother.

He told the court: "I have not come across a case like this before where my client has been so determined to succeed against adversity."