A CARETAKER severely traumatised after pricking his finger on a discarded needle in a toilet at Bolton Magistrates Court has won the right to substantial compensation at London's Court of Appeal.

Dennis Toole, aged 51, of Boscobel Road, Bolton, was so terrified of infection after the incident that he was plunged into acute anxiety, depression and reactive post traumatic stress disorder.

The Appeal Court has now decided that his former employers -- Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council -- was responsible for the accident.

The amount of his compensation has still to be assessed, but the extent of Mr Toole's psychiatric injuries means his pay-out is likely to be a substantial one.

Appeal Court judges, Lord Justice Buxton and Mr Justice Moses, overturned a Manchester County Court ruling last year that Mr Toole was to blame for his own misfortune.

Lord Justice Buxton said the Council had breached its statutory duty in not providing adequate safety equipment.

The court was told that at 8.30pm on November 3, 1998, a cleaner working in the public toilet in Bolton Magistrates Court had spotted syringe needles and other debris in a plastic toilet brush holder.

He informed his supervisor, Mr Toole, who put on a pair of rubber surgical gloves and took a pair of scissors and went to inspect the toilets.

He found what he thought was a single needle in the brush holder and, as he put in his hand to retrieve it, he sustained a needle stick injury to his right index finger.

At Manchester County Court in June last year Mr Recorder Berkeley QC ruled Mr Toole himself bore the lion's share of blame because of his failure to wear Kevlar gloves provided for him and by putting his hand inside the brush holder with minimal protection.

Lord Justice Buxton said: "On this occasion Mr Toole did not wear heavy duty protective gloves but put on a pair of rubber surgical gloves and used a pair of scissors, not a 'litter picker' as it had not been available. He asserts the employers had not provided either a suitable system of work to protect him in those circumstances or suitable equipment."

Ruling the council 100 per cent liable, the judge said that, even had Mr Toole worn the Kevlar gloves, they would not have protected him against a pin-prick injury.

"It is in my judgement clear that the employers considered their employees would have to handle deposited syringes.

"Mr Toole was criticised by the Recorder for not taking other steps, but it is wholly unreasonable to place that level of criticism on a man at this level of employment.

"What he did was in the ambit of his duty. Even if he had got those Kevlar gloves, the employers would not have been fulfilling their statutory duty.

"As a matter of logic, I do not see how an employee can be failing in his duty when the equipment is inadequate. I am not able to agree with the Recorder's view that this was a case of contributory negligence at all."

If final settlement terms are not agreed in the meantime, Mr Toole's damages will have to be assessed at another court hearing.