Woman launches £4.2m legal bid against gastropub after tripping over rope outside venue

Carmen Mazo, 43, suffered a fractured wrist when she stumbled over the rope at Notting Hill's The Westbourne and claims the injury destroyed her career

Paul Keogh

Claim: Carmen Mazo outside the Royal Courts of Justice

A high-flying HR consultant has stepped up a £4.2m legal claim against a London gastropub after breaking her wrist when she tripped over a rope outside the venue.
Carmen Mazo, 43, suffered the fracture when she stumbled over the rope at Notting Hill's The Westbourne in August 2009 and claims the injury destroyed her career.
Despite already winning £156,871 in damages, her case for a multi-million law suit is set to go before senior judges as she claims scarring from the injury led people to believe she was self-harming.
In a court statement, Ms Mazo added the accident and the post-traumatic arthritis she suffered as a consequence had ruined her working life.
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She said she would have expected to be on £700-a-day by now, but would have to go back to the "bottom of the ladder" and retrain in another career.
She said: "I have been left with what I consider to be horrendous scars on my wrist from the surgery, which I am extremely conscious of.

Trip: Ms Mazo fell outside the Westbourne Pub in Notting Hill

"The fact that I have been left with major scarring on my wrist, which to an unsympathetic observer might look like I am prone to self-harm, is very distressing for me.
"My career has always been my refuge to block away unpleasant circumstances in my personal life, but now I am finding that because of a bartender's irresponsibility I could end up with no career or purpose in life.
"My mood changes are like a rollercoaster, changing from anger to sadness in seconds.
"I am easily irritated and I lose my temper very easily, then end up breaking into tears when I realise that I was never like that before.
"The accident has totally destroyed my work and social life, changing me such that I do not think that I will ever be my old self again."
Following the accident Ms Mazo was off work for several months, but returned only to give up for good three years later.
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She sued the pub's operators and was awarded £156,871 at Central London County Court in 2013 after they admitted liability for the accident.

Hearing: The case will now be heard at the Court of Appeal

Judge Heather Baucher rejected her claim to more than £4.2m after finding Ms Mazo's injury was not bad enough to justify her giving up her work.
But she has now been granted permission to take her multi-million pound claim further after a top judge said it was arguable that Judge Baucher was wrong.
Her barrister Peter Sefton QC argued: "Her wrist was badly injured, she made a remarkable recovery. The issue is what happens next."
Granting permission to take the loss-of-career point to the Appeal Court, Lord Justice Laws said: "It seems to me that she is entitled to have the matter examined in this court."
No date was set for the hearing.