James Bond assistant director files for damages over accident

An assistant director who worked on the James Bond films starring Daniel Craig has launched High Court proceedings against the production company’s insurers, seeking £2.5 million in damages for career ending injuries he sustained while on set.

Terry Madden, an assistant director who has worked on every James Bond film since For Your Eyes Only in 1981, was crushed by a 4X4 while filming action sequences in the Austrian Alps for Spectre in 2015.

The insurers for B24 and Eon Productions, the companies behind the 007 franchise, have admitted liability, but have so far failed to pay compensation.

Madden, whose career dates back more than 45 years to the original Star Wars in 1976, commented: “I felt privileged and proud to work and be part of an active, exciting, but hard working industry, at times sacrificing family life. Then to have a career you worked hard over many years to build up, taken away within a few seconds in this horrendous accident, has been soul destroying. It has limited my mobility greatly and I am unable to do things I once took for granted.”

The international injury department of litigation firm Stewarts, which is led by Julian Chamberlayne, filed the complaint on Madden’s behalf.

Chamberlayne said: “Although we secured an admission of liability at an early stage, it has now become necessary to issue High Court proceedings to ensure that the insurers fully compensate Terry for his injuries which have ultimately ended his successful and celebrated career.”

Madden is seeking £2.5 million in damages, according to The Telegraph.

Mark Dugdale