The High Court in London has awarded £1.4 million in damages to an eight-year-old boy who suffers from behavioural problems after sustaining brain damage at birth.

BBC News reports that Kettering General Hospital NHS Trust accepted a breach of duty in the delivery of Zakk Wilkinson from Kettering in Northamptonshire.

Zakk was delivered by forceps in September 2001 and developed hydrocephalus – water on the brain – during birth. The trust admitted that he should have been born by Caesarean section rather by forceps delivery.

Zakk’s parents have had to devote their lives to caring for him constantly, as his disability means his behaviour is difficult to predict. The court heard that, although Zakk is almost physically normal, he has persistent ‘social and communication problems’.

The family’s legal representative told the court that Zakk might be in a similar social situation from week to week, but would behave in a totally different and unpredictable ways each time.

‘This family can be congratulated for having the resilience to maintain the unity they have – in many such cases the family haven't survived, but this family has and it is to their credit,’ he said.

The court heard that the boy’s mother had been ‘stretched to the limit’ caring for her son – and his father feared that his son might never develop necessary life skills.

The hospital’s legal representatives said the trust had already written to the family apologising for the blunder.

Mrs Justice Swift presiding said that Zakk’s family had shown ‘the greatest patience and understanding’ in dealing with him.

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