A NEWPORT teenager was awarded £500,000 in compensation after heart treatment he received as a baby left him with a lifelong disability.

Kristian Dixon, 19, of The Turnstiles, settled a damages claim at the High Court yesterday with the Bristol Royal Infirmary and British Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

This was 10 years after a public inquiry into paediatric cardiac surgery at the hospitals in the 80s and 90s, which has led to dozens of compensation claims being launched.

Mr Dixon had treatment for a congenital heart defect in October 1992, when he was 16 months old, and claims substandard surgery led to him being left with learning difficulties.

In total, £1 million was paid out yesterday, with Mr Dixon settling for the same amount as Jessica Helen Johnson, 17, of Bristol, who was left with brain damage following two heart operations.

Each sued the hospitals' managers- United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust- through their parents or guardians, claiming the care they received was negligent.

Lawyers agreed to settle the claims, however, the Trust's spokeswoman Sarah Paneth said the settlement had been reached without any admission of liability and expressed her best wishes to both teenagers.

Mr Dixon's barrister said that he had "an extremely difficult early life" and praised the devoted care his father has shown him over the years. She said she hopes the payout will allow him a "secure and fulfilling future".

Approving the award, Mr Justice Owen said: "Kristian, to say the least, had an extremely difficult start to life, but the compensation he is now about to receive will go some way toward securing his future."

The Bristol heart scandal in which up to 35 babies died and dozens more were left brain damaged sparked a sea-change in the way mortality rates in hospitals are monitored, especially in cardiac care.

Concerns about the high mortality rate of babies undergoing heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary eventually led to the biggest public inquiry ever undertaken into the workings of the NHS.