A GARDENER has received a huge payout from a razor firm after cutting his cheek while shaving.
Nick Silverthorn, 48, from London, has suffered from “trauma” and “recurring nightmares” ever since he used the faulty product.
Wanting to look fresh for his relatives over the festive period, Nick headed out to his local Sainsbury’s store in Richmond to get his hands on an own brand razor.
He was unaware at the time that the £2.50 Men Advance 3 razor purchase would see him being awarded an out of court settlement worth £5,000.
“It sliced my skin,” Nick described the visceral moment the razor cut his cheeks.
He continued: “‘I started shaving on one side with one stroke and then another stroke on the other side.
“‘I noticed after a few seconds that I had started bleeding badly on my left cheek and then on my right hand side as well and before I knew, it was streaming down my face.
“It just kept coming. Due to the wounds being on my face it took me nearly half an hour dabbing with tissues before the blood finally stopped pumping out of the cuts.”
The part-time landscape gardener then inspected the new purchase.
He was shocked to discover that one of the blades was detached in the razor head.
He added: “When I saw the blade hanging out I thought that could have done some real damage.
”It wasn’t just an everyday nick or cut I had been given. It had sliced into my skin. I had been shaving for thirty years and never had cuts like this.”
Nick’s wounds took weeks to heal properly but the marks on his cheeks were not his only scars.
He explained: “I had a bad experience with operations and blood in the past and it took me straight back and I kept seeing blood on my face in my dreams. It was a bad time for me.”
Quick thinking Nick managed to get his relatives to snap pictures of the cuts on his face and also keep hold of the razor, box and receipt to use as evidence.
He then opted to contact product liability specialists Express Solicitors, rather than bin the faulty product.
After Sainsbury’s referred them to their own brand manufacturer, Nick was involved in a case with razor giant Wilkinson Sword.
Brand bosses then sent the razor for tests and a month later offered to settle his claim for £5,000 with no admission of liability.
Product liability expert Jack Klein of Express Solicitors – who settled the case in ten months on behalf of Nick said: “Not many people who cut themselves shaving would think to sue one of the World’s biggest razor companies.
“But Nick did and by keeping the razor as proof he won a settlement. It just shows that if you are injured by any product there may be a valid claim no matter how big the company are.”
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s referred the Sun to contact Wilkinson Sword for comment.
The Sun has approached Wilkinson Sword for comment.
