21 March 2023 , 20:02
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Terry Sanderson has been pictured outside court on the first day of proceedings in his case against actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
The retired optometrist, 76, is suing the Oscar-winner, 50, for £245,000 following an alleged collision on ski slopes in Utah in 2016.
The incident is said to have left Mr Sanderson with "four broken ribs and permanent brain damage," according to Lawrence Buhler, who is representing him.
Mr Buhler told the civil court jury: "Ladies and gentlemen… distracted skiers cause crashes, defendant Gwyneth Paltrow knew that looking up the mountain and to the side while skiing down the mountain was dangerous.
"(She) was looking somewhere else blindly skiing down an mountain while looking up…(this) was reckless."
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Paltrow, is counter claiming and is seeking $1 (82p) in damages plus legal fees.
She is represented in the case, which is expected to last eight days, by Stephen Owens. Following Mr Buhler's comments, Mr Owens called Paltrow a "conservative" skier and claimed she was "freaked out" by the collision.
Terry Sanderson has been pictured outside court (BACKGRID)He told the court: "She’s skiing, enjoying herself and suddenly she sees two skis appear between her skis and a man comes up right behind her.
"They’re not going fast…(Mr Sanderson) comes up almost body to body and starts groaning.
"She doesn’t know what’s going on… she’s moving forward, they begin falling to the right and she’s feeling freaked out."
Mr Owens also claimed that three years on from the incident, Mr Sanderson had described the Shallow Hal star as having come "out of the jungle like King Kong screaming".
Gwyneth Paltrow in court as ski crash trial starts (COURT TV)He said: "When asked in real time by Gwyneth he said ‘I apologise, I’m sorry’. When asked by the ski instructor he said ‘she appeared right in front of me’, and when asked by the toboggan person he said ‘I don’t know’."
He continued: "Mr Sanderson said his memories of this case get better over the years, that’s all I’m going to say about that – that’s not how memory works."
Mr Owens went on to claim Mr Sanderson had been struggling with vision and hearing problems at the time of the incident and had previously told doctors that he was "feeling old suddenly".
He added: "You’ll never hear the words hit and run. This was not a hit and run. The plaintiff even had a ski expert evaluate it and he said it’s not a hit and run – take that out of your mind."
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Both claimants are arguing the other is at fault. Paltrow is expected to testify during the case.