THE parents of a teenager who was left severely brain damaged by the MMR vaccine have won £90,000 in compensation.

Robert Fletcher, now 18, suffered an epileptic fit 10 days after he was given the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination, at 13 months old.

Since then he has suffered frequent seizures and is unable to talk, stand unaided or feed himself.

As a result mum and dad Jackie and John, from Golborne, who always believed their son’s epilepsy was triggered by the MMR vaccine, received the payout from a medical assessment panel, made up of a jury, judge and two doctors.

The family successfully appealed after their application for compensation under the Government’s Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme was turned down in 1997.

Mrs Fletcher has campaigned for justice for her son for the past 16 years, even setting up awareness group JABS (Justice Awareness and Basic Support).

Back in 2003 she called for a single jab to be introduced and said: “Even the manufacturers of the MMR vaccine are saying that effects like epilepsy and autism can happen but are rare. Now parents are sitting on the fence because they don’t know who to believe.”

Stockton Heath parent David Thrower, aged 60, who is convinced his 23-year-old son Oliver became autistic after being given the MMR jab, welcomed the news.

He said: “The results of this long and drawn-out battle have demonstrated three things.

“Firstly, the authorities have had to admit that MMR really can, after all, cause severe damage to a minority of children.

“Secondly, the amount of time it has taken to reach this conclusion demonstrates how the system is so heavily stacked against parents.

“Not only do the parents of damaged children have to cope with the problems of caring for their son or daughter but they also have to take on the Department of Health and the vaccine manufacturers, who deny the damage was caused by the vaccine.

“Finally it demonstrates the need for fully-independent research into vaccine safety. At present, funds for vaccine research are 100 per cent controlled by the manufacturers themselves and the Government. This is like putting a fox in charge of the henhouse.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: “This award reflects the opinion of a tribunal and does not change the position on the evidence for the safety of MMR.

“The safety of MMR has been endorsed through numerous studies in many countries. Thankfully, more parents are having their children vaccinated with MMR and they see it as being as safe as other childhood vaccines.”