South Korean student hit by falling tree branch in Australian park awarded A$718,000

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - A South Korean student who was left brain damaged after a tree branch fell on her head in Sydney was awarded 718,000 Australian dollars (US$559,835; euro429,915) in compensation Wednesday.

Yun Hee Choi, 28, was sitting in Sydney's Hyde Park when the 1.5-meter-long (5-foot-long) tree branch feel on her in December 2000. The accident fractured Choi's skull and left her with permanent brain damage.

Choi, who was studying at the University of Sydney at the time, sued Sydney council and the maintenance contractors in charge of the park, alleging they were negligent in their upkeep of the park's trees.

The New South Wales state Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the city council of any wrongdoing, but said the contractor, Prestige Property Services, was responsible for Choi's injuries.

It ordered the company to pay the sum.

"There was a failure to ensure that trees that have been known to be dangerous were properly attended to so that the situation didn't arise where a large branch just peeled off and fractured this lass' skull,'' Choi's lawyer Michael Williams said outside court.

He said Choi, who now lives in South Korea, was "pleased with the result.''

Prestige Property made no comment.-AP