Canada Water station. Photo: Kake Pugh

A Lewisham man who sued London Underground for £1m damages after he was injured by an employee at a ticket barrier, has been awarded just £11,925 compensation.

Leib Spektor was passing through the ticket barriers with his bicycle at Canada Water tube station in February 2006 when a LU employee asked him about the route he had taken. When Mr Spektor did not respond, he was grabbed by the employee, forced backwards and bent over the barriers.

Deputy Judge Satinder Hunjan said that the 58-year-old had “inappropriate force” used against him, but that the claim was “excessive and exaggerated”.

The judge ruled that London Underground should compensate Mr Spektor for back and neck injuries, and an anxiety disorder which prevented him going out in the dark.

Mr Spektor, of Sangley Road, Lewisham, claimed he was left significantly disabled and asked for £1,062,069 in damages while LU offered £18,000.

When assessing compensation, the judge noted that Mr Spektor had suffered from disabling osteoarthritis and had not worked for ten years.

The judge rejected Mr Spektor’s claims for damages including a “substantial amount” for a massage therapy trip to Thailand and £41,917 for ready meals.

He also dismissed a “highly speculative” claim for £300,000, which allegedly represented a lost chance to develop software for the flight industry.

The judge said: “Liability was a tough battle for him in which he succeeded and this is not a slipping or tripping case – this involved inappropriate force being used by one of the employees of London Underground.”