Banker burned on head during blow dry wins £2,000 damages

A City banker who was burned on the head with a hairdryer during a wash and blow dry has won compensation after complaining the injury made her self-conscious and forced her to cancel a holiday.

Senior HSBC financier Sarina Saul-Hassam was left with a burn in the centre of her forehead after her stylist accidentally touched her with the dryer during an appointment at her regular salon in Canary Wharf.

She said the “very noticeable” mark prompted comments from her work colleagues, who asked: “What on earth has happened to your face?”

After the incident in December 2017, Mrs Saul-Hassam said she dodged social events and was forced to cancel a Christmas holiday, and she sued the owners of the Blow Dry Express salon, BDE Enterprises Can Ltd, for damages.

The salon flatly denied causing the burn and accused Mrs Saul-Hassam of suffering “some sort of excessive concern about her appearance”.

But District Judge Adrian Worthington ruled that the banker is owed just over £2,000 in damages and a refund for the £31 appointment.

“I find she was burned on the forehead by the negligence of the stylist, causing the injury,” he said, but added that he could not detect any visible scarring.

“I accept that initially it would have been visible and caused her to be self-conscious to a degree.

“There would have been some limitation on her lifestyle, but not to an extent she says there was.” The judge said the salon should also pay the legal bills, totalling almost £8,000.

During a trial, Mrs Saul-Hassam said she felt pain as the drier touched her head but did not realise how bad the burn was until she took off her makeup that night.

She said the stylist apologised for the incident at the time, and she was left with a burn mark the size of a 20p coin. “I was very self-conscious about it, certainly in work, and even more when I had to speak to clients face to face,” she told the court.

“I was constantly being stared at in the office and being asked by colleagues, ‘What on earth has happened to your face?’ It made me feel incredibly uncomfortable.”

Mrs Saul-Hassam said she cancelled her holiday after being advised to stay out of the sun.

She said before the incident she had regularly attended hair appointments, sometimes twice a week, but she now felt “anxious” when going to a salon.

Mrs Saul-Hassam had sought £4,500 in damages but was awarded £2,064 by the judge.