A MAN left facing a lifetime of disability due to a “failure of care” at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital during his mother’s pregnancy more than quarter of a century ago has been guaranteed multi-million-pound compensation.

Matthew Calcutt’s mother, Elaine, suffered from diabetes and, due to a failure to adequately monitor or treat her condition during pregnancy, he was born several weeks premature in 1984.

Matthew, now 26, from Oxford, suffered irreversible brain damage which left him wheelchair-bound and prey to a range of other disabilities.

At the High Court in London, the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust agreed to compensate Matthew on the basis of full liability.

The exact payout has yet to be assessed, but Judge Peter Ralls QC told the court it was bound to be “very significant indeed”.