Cyclist's £1m claim for Tube injury ends in £11,925 payout

A man's claim for £1 million after he was slightly injured in a scuffle with a Tube station employee was branded excessive and exaggerated by a High Court judge who awarded him £11,925.

Leib Spektor, 58, tried to claim for loss of marriage prospects and damage to his chances of getting a job - even though he had not worked for 10 years.

Mr Spektor, of Lewisham, said he wanted £40,000 for ready meals because he was no longer able to cook and that his injuries had prevented him designing a £300,000 in-flight entertainment game. He attempted to claim for a trip to Thailand for massage treatment.

Mr Spektor was at Canada Water station with his bicycle in 2006. He was challenged by a Tube worker about where he had travelled from. The employee grabbed him and held him over some barriers causing minor neck and back injuries.

Deputy judge Satinder Hunjan, QC, said the claim of £1,062,000 was "wholly misconceived". The judge said his neck injury would have cleared up in three weeks and back injury in six months. London Underground offered him £18,000 to settle which he turned down. Because he refused an offer worth more than his award, he may lose some or all of it in legal costs.