A TREDEGAR woman who suffered serious brain damage and almost died after a drink-driver ploughed into a car in which she was a passenger was granted £4.25m compensation package.

Rhianna Millett was just six on March 17, 1996, when Jeremy Hallett, of Cripps Avenue, Cefn Golau, Tredegar, drove his Land Rover head-on into a car in which she was travelling, on Blackwood Road, Blackwood.

Miss Millett, of Oak House Yellow Row, Dukestown, Tredegar, suffered serious head injuries and a broken leg in the crash and her mother’s partner, who was driving the car, died.

Hallett, who was over the drink drive limit and on the wrong side of the road, was convicted of causing death by driving without due care and attention whilst over the drink drive limit at Cardiff Crown Court in March, 1997.

Through her mother, Alison Kearney, Rhianna, now 21, launched a damages claim against Hallett, seeking recompense for injuries which have left her disabled for life.

His insurers admitted liability in July 1998 for the accident, and yesterday Mrs Justice Sharp, sitting at London’s High Court, approved a payout totalling about £4.25m to settle the claim.

That consisted of a £1m lump sum, plus index-linked and tax-free payments of £52,500 a year to cover the costs of her care for the rest of her life.

Rhianna has a normal life expectancy.

Simon Michael, for the victim, told the court that initially it was thought she had escaped the crash without suffering serious injury and was sent home from hospital after her broken leg had been treated.

But the crash caused a congenital weakness in the tissues of her brain to tear and she suffered near fatal bleeding before she was taken into intensive care.

Mr Michael said: “Rhianna will never work for money, will never be able to live independently and will require a considerable care package.”