Woman awarded £150,000 after LG phone sparks fire in her home

A girl has efficiently sued former cellphone producer LG for almost £150,000 after one in all its gadgets sparked a fireplace in her house in North Lanarkshire.

Denise Parks and her husband Robert had been in mattress at their home in Coatbridge when a fireplace broke out in the lounge at about 03:00 on 31 October 2018.

A laptop computer and two cell phones, a Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG K8, had been left charging on a sofa earlier than the couple went to mattress.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court docket, a choose dominated that the LG cellphone, equipped to Ms Parks by her employer North Lanarkshire Council, was the supply of the hearth.

In his judgement, Sheriff Robert Fife mentioned: “On the time the hearth began, the LG was in regular use, being charged by an acceptable charger, and in circumstances during which a regular product wouldn’t have failed.”

“The court docket was entitled to attract an inference that the LG was faulty.

“The LG didn’t meet the usual of security that individuals typically are entitled to anticipate.”

The court docket heard Ms Parks was handled for smoke inhalation after the hearth.

She had a historical past of panic assaults and anxiousness which worsened after the incident.

Because of the hearth, she was off work between 2 November in 2018 and seven February 2019.

She raised an motion towards LG Electronics UK Ltd on the private damage court docket at Edinburgh Sheriff Court docket looking for damages.

Legal responsibility for the hearth was contested, however the sheriff dominated on the steadiness of chances that the LG cellphone ignited the hearth.

He discovered that there was a defect within the LG cellphone and that Ms Parks had efficiently established legal responsibility towards the makers.

He additionally discovered that she had proved she sustained damage due to the hearth.

The sheriff dominated that Ms Parks was entitled to £149,496 in damages.

In 2021 LG introduced that it was shutting down its smartphone division after struggling to compete with different manufacturers.