Man seeks £136k from date who ‘gave him cold sores’
A PERSONAL trainer who claims he contracted cold sores after kissing a woman on a date is suing her for £136,000 in compensation.
Martin Ashley Conway said he has been “traumatised” after “catching the herpes simplex virus through snogging a woman” during a date last year.
Mr Conway, 45, insists his date – who he knew as Jovanna Lovelace – was “negligent” in kissing him “when she had an active cold sore” and owed him a duty of care to protect him from contracting a “virus for life”.
Panic
He said he became ill several days after the date, developing flu-like symptoms and mouth ulcers, and even had to be rushed into hospital after suffering a panic attack.
He is now suing his date, claiming she must pay for infecting him with a condition which has blighted his personal and professional life and left him needing therapy.
He is claiming £136,328 compensation, including £100,000 for fortnightly therapy sessions until the age of 79, and payments to cover lost earnings while he was ill and income protection insurance. However, the woman, who is in her 30s, is fighting the compensation claim, which her lawyers describe as “frivolous and vexatious”.
Mr Conway said: “She met me in central London and we kissed. Later that evening after sharing intimate kisses already she informed me, as her makeup was coming off, that she had a cold sore.
“I had no knowledge of cold sores and was not aware of the contagious nature.”
Mr Conway of Paddington, west London, said he began to experience a cough two days later and had flu-like symptoms within a week. Ulcers then began to develop and spread in his mouth, which he found “extremely distressing”.
He said he found eating painful and, after calling 111 and being referred to a hospital, he was diagnosed with “the lifelong
THE setting for the Victorian classic Lorna Doone has been saved for the country.
And the cash-strapped National Trust said its £1.5million purchase of the site may be its last for some time.
It expects to lose £200million due to the coronavirus. The deal was agreed before the lockdown.
Lorna Doone is a novel of passion and high drama set in the wilds of 17th-century Exmoor. Now the area will become a haven for wildlife, virus of herpes simplex” and given medication.
A few days later, he had a panic attack and collapsed at home after seeing more ulcers appearing and had to be taken to St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, he said.
Mr Conway added: “My illness was worsening and I was unable to eat or leave my apartment.
“I have suffered from depression in the past and I fear that I will need regular psychological support to manage the added psychological burden caused by the nature of the infection which has been given to me. I was including peregrine falcons and red deer. The nine-acre site includes Lorna Doone Farm and Cloud Farm campsite, which appear in RD Blackmore’s novel.
April Braund, of the National Trust said: “For those familiar with the book, RD Blackmore’s descriptions of the Exmoor landscapes of rolling hills and deep wooded valleys are at the heart of the site.” angry and very confused. I wanted justice and it was then I decided I wanted to take legal action against the respondent for the illness she brought upon me.
“As a herpetic, the respondent had a moral, ethical and legal duty to warn me of the risks that I would be exposed to. I was kissed before I was informed of any cold sore.” Miss Lovelace denies Mr Conway’s version of events and denies any liability, with her lawyers asking for the claim to be struck out.
The case reached Central London County Court for a pre-trial hearing and is due back again for a further hearing later this year.