In 1985, in Camden, London, a graffiti artist known as “King Robbo” spray-painted his name – in yellow, red and black – on a tunnel wall.
Photographed in 2006, it can be seen that Robbo’s original had gradually faded to form the background of other graffiti scrawled on top.
The well-known, though anonymous, street artist, Banksy, enters the story in 2009. He partially obliterated Robbo’s wall with an image of a workman “wallpapering” over the graffiti in plain grey. Only the “bo” of “Robbo” remained visible.
Robbo’s retaliation – on Christmas Day 2009 – was to complete the greywash of his original image.
Leaving Banksy’s image of the workman, with his can and paint brush, in place, Robbo added the words “KING ROBBO”, making it appear that the workman had put them there.
As the dispute moved into 2010, Banksy heated things up with his reply – adding “FUC” in front of “KING”. With hindsight, it was almost as if Robbo had invited that addition.
Robbo seems to have edited it back to “KING ROBBO” before some unidentified person ordained a clean slate, painting the whole canvas black.
In turn, Robbo restored vision to the scene.
This time he did it with a clever image of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, Top Cat – seen leaning nonchalantly on a headstone bearing the inscription “R.I.P. BANKSY’S CAREER”.
After this, someone again decreed a period of total blackness before fate intervened in the cruellest fashion.
On 02 April 2011, Robbo was found at the foot of a flight of stairs with a serious head injury. Sadly, he never regained consciousness, remaining in a persistent vegetative state until his death on 01 August 2014.
In November 2011, Banksy had restored the outline of Robbo’s original image, as a tribute to his rival. An image of a can of spray paint formed the focal point, the impression of an “eternal flame” conveyed by the standard “flammable” warning sign in the backdrop, behind the can. A fitting memorial to the artists’ tussle and to Robbo’s talents. The battle was over.
In the world of blog posts, we at Moray Claims regularly create and publish articles which are then left to battle amongst themselves for visitor views and popularity. At the end of each year, we review which posts have achieved the most traffic and list them according to their status. Here we are at the Top 10 for 2016 and the countdown – in reverse order – follows.
10. How speed affects the outcome of pedestrian road accident collisions.
This article looks at some of the obvious and less obvious effects of speed in pedestrian collisions involving vehicles – an area where expert reports can play an important part.
9. How does your personal injury solicitor make money if they do not charge you anything?
An article which returns to the “hidden cost” of some personal injury claims – where the solicitor takes some proportion of the compensation, reducing the amount that the injured person receives. There’s an explanation as to why it is possible for your solicitor to win your case for you, take nothing from your compensation and remain in business!
8. Do you have a compensation claim for a minor injury?
The emphasis here is on “minor”. Our article explains why you should not feel your claim is insignificant, just because the law classifies it as minor.
7. Pedestrians hit by buses on the pavement.
This sounds a frightening concept – being chased down the footpath by a marauding bus – but the design of buses makes it perfectly possible – even common – for pedestrians on the pavement to be struck by buses which remain mostly, if not entirely, on the road. What are the legal aspects of such collisions?
6. Can you get 100% contributory negligence?
Contributory negligence has featured in a lot of articles on the Moray Claims website over the years. This one takes the issue to an extreme position. Contributory negligence suggests an ultimate sharing of blame between the parties. Can it mean, nevertheless, that the injured person is solely responsible for his or her injuries? We say the answer is firmly “no” – and explain why here.
5. Pre-action protocol for personal injury cases becomes compulsory.
The pre-action protocol was previously voluntary.
It has become compulsory in Scotland for accidents which occurred after 28 November 2016. This is generally a good thing for injury victims, as explained in this article.
4. How nervous shock claims depend on whether you are a primary or secondary victim.
This article explains not only what is nervous shock but also the crucial difference between primary and secondary victims.
3. Bereavement damages – Scots law used as a benchmark for reform.
Moving into the Top 3, this post explained why Scots Law’s approach to fatal accident claims for relatives of deceased persons was being held up by English and Welsh lawyers as the example to follow for law reform in those jurisdictions. The law on bereavement damages in Scotland is considered to reflect public opinion on what compensation should be payable much more than the existing law in England and Wales, where average damages are much lower.
2. Medical reports in personal injury claims.
They’re different in several ways from what you might expect. This article explains how and why – and it was the 2nd-most-popular post on this website in 2016
1. Help from the other driver’s insurer (How to avoid being misled).
The topic of “third party capture” is an important one, which we have covered in several articles. This article came in at No. 1: “KING” of the posts we released in 2016.
The essential advice, in our most-read article of 2016, is that you must be very careful if you allow the opposing insurers to run your claim for you. They are not obliged to act in your best interests and you cannot assume that they will do so. Ensuring you receive independent legal advice from a solicitor of your choice is the best way to make sure you do not sell yourself short. You owe it to yourself to make sure you get a fair valuation – and payment – for your claim.
How we can help
We hope you have found this look back at the most popular personal injury articles on the Moray Claims website in 2016 to contain something of interest.
This article – and the other posts it links to – covers a lot of different aspects of personal injury: from liability to valuation of claims; from insurance to solicitors’ fees. If you have any questions arising from any matters raised above, please get in touch with us. We’re always happy to try and clarify things.
You can get in touch with Peter or Marie via our main switchboard number – 01343 544077 – or you can send us a Free Online Enquiry. All initial enquiries are at no charge and do not oblige you to “take things further” with us.
