CNN war correspondent sues Borough Market for £1.7m after slipping on food

A war correspondent who survived grenades in Ukraine, bombs in Beirut and being held at gunpoint in Libya - only to be hospitalised after slipping on spilt food at London's trendy Borough Market - is suing for £1.6million compensation.

As a senior reporter at CNN, Matthew Chance has been to some of the world's most dangerous places, has fled Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and once realised he was crouched next to a live grenade while broadcasting from war-torn Ukraine.

The Brit interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his Kyiv bunker while Russian bombs landed and in 2011 was held at gunpoint in a Libyan hotel by Colonel Gaddafi's forces during the last days of his reign.

But it was in the more welcoming environment of London's Borough Market - a tourist hub and international foodie destination - that he was injured and hospitalised at Christmas 2022.

On his way to book a table at the market's 'Roast' restaurant - famous for its scotch eggs, beef wellington and afternoon tea - he slipped in "greasy and oily" food waste on the floor beside one of the stalls.

He crashed to the ground, sustaining a bad fracture of his ankle, which he says left him with ongoing pain and forced him to move to the UK from his Moscow base, which he says has impacted on his earning power.

At the High Court, he is now suing the Borough Market Trustees for £1.6million in compensation for his injuries and lost past and future income.

The trustees, which run the market as a non-profit organisation, have admitted liability for the accident, but are set to contest the amount in damages Mr Chance is due.

According to documents filed at the court, Mr Chance, 56, had gone to Borough Market on the afternoon of 19 December, 2022, when he suffered his fall.

"At approximately 4pm, he was approaching the entrance to 'Roast' restaurant, as he intended to make a booking, and was walking in front of a food stand when he slipped up on an oily and greasy substance on the floor, lost his footing and fell," say his lawyers.

As he fell, he twisted his right leg, fracturing his ankle and suffering an injury known as a 'Bosworth fracture' in which ligaments are torn from the bone.

He was taken to hospital and the fibula bone put back into position before further surgery took place to repair the ligament and reconstruct his joint.

In a hearing at the court this week, his barrister James Byrne said the accident had "knocked him sideways" and had a serious impact on his earning potential.

"We say that the injury has caused a substantial loss to him," he said.

Although Mr Chance was subsequently promoted to CNN's chief global affairs correspondent, he is claiming lost earnings on the basis that he was forced as a result of the accident to move permanently from Moscow to London, where taxes are higher.

"Had he not suffered the accident, he would not have relocated to the UK and would have received the increased salary following the promotion subject only to the deduction of Russian income tax at the relevant rates," say his lawyers.

"To reiterate, the claim is that the injury necessitated a move to London that he would not have otherwise made and that in being forced to move to London he has been left without the actual remunerative benefit of his promotion.

"Had he stayed in Moscow once promoted, his net pay would have been considerably higher than it is now."

For the market trustees, barrister James Hogg says in its written defence that, while it accepts liability for the accident, it requires him to prove "the incidence, causation, nature and extent of the pain, injury, loss and damage alleged."

He says Mr Chance's "credibility is in issue," having claimed in early 2024 that he had returned to sedentary work but not been back to Ukraine, despite having actually reported from Gostomel and Kyiv in 2023.

"Whereas the claimant informed Dr Stallard in November 2024 that he had not returned to reporting in the same combat or front line situations that he had previously done, the defendant notes that prior to that date the claimant had reported from Goris, Armenia, in October 2023 and later the same month from Tel Aviv, Israel, when the broadcast was interrupted by explosions, and from the Gaza-Egyptian border in September 2024, when the claimant accompanied the Israel Defence Forces," says the barrister.

He also points to evidence which he says suggests that, by June 2024, Mr Chance was not taking pain medication and "had been able to partially return to his pre-accident activities of road cycling and to run on a treadmill at 12km/h, noted to be his previous fast run pace."

The case reached court for a pre-trial case management hearing this week, with a five-day trial currently set to take place in early 2028.

Mr Chance joined CNN in 2001 and has since reported from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Russia and Chechnya, Ukraine, Europe and the Far East.

He has interviewed many world leaders, including Vladimir Putin, Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko and former President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf.

At the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he secured an exclusive interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his bunker in Kyiv.

On another occasion, he was forced to flee a Beirut neighbourhood after the Israeli military warned of an airstrike while he was in the area.

While broadcasting live from Ukraine in 2002, he suddenly realised he was crouching next to a live unexploded grenade on a dirt road.

"Oh actually, I was crouching right down by a grenade. I didn't see that. Let's move away from that," he told the audience before stepping away.