The class of potential claimants is restricted among the secondary victims, especially for those who have close relationships with the primary victims. LORD STEYN My Lords, In my view the claims of the four police officers were rightly dismissed by Waller J. Many of the spectators saw their friends and relatives die in the crush and suffered nervous shock after the incident. %PDF-1.2
hYn86 ,tV!%TvIrD9f%E0jBA%r`$)8 In order for the claimant to successfully recover compensation the court needs to consider an amalgam of rules and exceptions as well as different categories of claimants, which . In this case, the British High Court ruled that a plaintiff, a bar maid, could recover damages for nervous shock even though no actual impact was involved in the accident. The case Alcock v Chief Constable of Yorkshire Police relates to claims brought by Alcock and several other claimants after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. Primary victims are victims who are imperilled or reasonably believe themselves to be imperilled by the defendants negligence.Lord Steyn said: the law on the recovery of compensation for pure psychiatric harm is a patchwork quilt of distinctions which are difficult to justify. The first is to wipe out recovery in tort for pure psychiatric injury. [58] As per Salmon J. Interestingly, in White v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police the plaintiffs ( police officers ) relied on cases such as Dooley v Cammell Laird [1951] 1 Lloyds Rep 271, Galt v British Railways Board [1983] 113 NLJ 870, Wiggs v British Railways Board. Rough was also driving another van from a few feet behind the Robersons van. It was not disputed that D was negligent or, indeed, that this had caused nervous shock to C. The Court of Appeal had previously found in favour of C and D appealed to the House of Lords. So the defendant submitted that, since the claimant was not present at the place where the accident took place, his action against the defendant should not be allowed by the court. N>7>@s!z9@-w9Hy^O1? M:fXxKGkYqLfX A Ai>|N_*HbOsu.7B ovRl-#GQcLXH`{70l191X?@j`P02:vKX @9E. For a secondary victim to be successful in their claim, they must prove the following: It must be reasonably foreseeable that a person of "normal fortitude" might suffer . C brought an action in negligence (and/or breach of statutory duty) against their employer, the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police (D), for the psychiatric harm they had suffered as a result of witnessing the tragedy first-hand. A possible suggestion for not allowing compensation in this instance may be directly related to a fear of a floodgate of claims if some claimants were successful. The children had severe head and face injuries, concussion and fractures. At the time of the accident, the claimant was at home that was two miles away from the place of the accident. His employers had refused to provide the increased support he requested. hbbd```b`` (dWHI`
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Having heard the scream the father (claimant) rushed into the spot and found his son with his foot trapped by the cars wheel. Nor is any duty of care owed to a rescuer lacking ordinary courage. .Cited Barber v Somerset County Council HL 1-Apr-2004 A teacher sought damages from his employer after suffering a work related stress breakdown. The father subsequently suffered nervous shock as a result of witnessing the accident. The claimant further argued that the defendant by causing an accident to the boy negligently had been in breach of his duty and was liable to for all the direct consequences of the breach, no matter if the damage to the claimant was reasonably forseeable or not. He took the view that, since the claimant was watching the scene of the accident from quite a few distances away, so it was not reasonably foreseeable by the defendant that if he backed his taxicab negligently the claimant would suffer a nervous shock. It does not merely include the very accident that caused the death or injury to the primary victims but it also includes the immidiate aftermath of the accident[66]. If the claimant was a rescuer who went to the aid of others involved in an accident, they will only be defined as a primary victim if they were, or reasonably believed themselves to be, in danger. The court differentiated damage by fire from other types of physical damage to property for the purposes of liability in tort, saying We have come back to the plain . It is an important matter of discussion what is actually meant by psychiatric illness or if there is any specific definition of psychiatric illness under the English law of tort. [1952] 2 All ER 459 at page 460. On the otherhand, the defendant admitted that he was negligent in relation to the accident of the boy but he denied any kind of liability or duty of care towards the claimant as far as her psychiatric injury was concerned. Her claim was struck out, but restored on appeal. Whether a person is to be regarded as a rescuer will be a question of fact to be decided on the . The police failed to control crowed at the match. So, it was held by the court that the claimant was entitled to recover damages even though she suffered psychiatric illness through the fear of her childrens safety, not through the fear of her own physical injury or safety. According to Lord Oliver[31], it would be unfair to create a list of the category or class of people whose claim should be allowed and whose claim should be failed. [50] stated that the present case is not a margianl one. Appeal from White, Frost and others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire and others HL 3-Dec-1998 No damages for Psychiatric Harm Alone The House considered claims by police officers who had suffered psychiatric injury after tending the victims of the Hillsborough tragedy. [39] that- the defendant did not owe any duty of care towards the claimant for not causing a psychiatric injury by self inflicted physical injuries. Cited McFarlane v E E Caledonia Ltd CA 10-Sep-1993 The court will not extend a duty of care to mere bystanders of horrific events. Having witnessed the tragic death of Smith, both his workmates-Robertson and Rough suffered nervous shock. All of them were connected in various ways . On August 18, 1955, the defendant, namely Mr. Sanderson went to the garage along with the claimant and his son for the purpose of collecting his car as they had decided to go out for holiday. White v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire [1999] 2 AC 455 All of the claimants were police officers who had been on duty the day of the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster. Free resources to assist you with your legal studies! They claimed that because they were rescuers they should be treated as primary victims. Updated: 01 November 2022; Ref: scu.80695. Held: The definition of the work expected of him did not justify the demand placed upon him. Recovery, on the other hand, for a secondary victim is differentiated and is much more restricted. *You can also browse our support articles here >. The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire has admitted liability in negligence in respect of the deaths and physical injuries. Lord Jauncey[32] took the view that such a categorization would be illogical as well as arbitrary. He brought an action for negligently inflicted psychiatric illness against the defendants. .Considered Campbell v North Lanarkshire Council and Scottish Power Plc SCS 30-Jun-1999 . The requirement that the secondary victims must be physically present to the accident or its immediate aftermath was for the first time established by Lord Wilberforce in the case of Mcloughlin v O Brian[42] which subsequently had been approved by the House of Lords in the leading case of Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire[43]. However, these two categories of secondary victims are exceptionally allowed to recover at common law even without a close tie of love and affection between them and the immediate victims, as required of other secondary victims. According to him, the existing law of negligence in relation to psychiatric illness generally recognizes a claim brought by the people who are in a close relationship with the primary victims, but reluctant to allow any claims by the bystanders. The Court of Appeal upheld the judgement that was delivered by Boreham J but on different ground. As a result of the tragic death of his workmate he was so upset and mentally distressed. endstream
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miscarriage. The court considered her to be outside the area of potential danger. In the case of bystanders, it is not generally foreseeable by the defendants that such a person would suffer from psychiatric injury. Firstly, it fell to be determined whether an employer owed a duty of care to protect their employees from psychiatric injuries they may incur in the course of their employment. The 2003 decision of Fletcher v Commissioners for Public Works clearly demonstrates this point. During a major football match in the Hillsborough ground, one part of the football stadium was crashed because the South Yorkshire police allowed an excessively large number of spectators in that part of the stadium which was already full. Abstract. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in Frost (or White) v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999] 2 AC 455. [40] Cases and Commentary on Tort, by Barbara Harvey & John Marston, 5th Edition: Publication date 2004. Pages 14 Course Hero uses AI to attempt to automatically extract content from documents to surface to you and others so you can study better, e.g., in search results, to enrich docs, and more. Decent Essays. The court held that the defendant was liable for negligence and allowed the claimant to recover damages for psychaitric illness as the mental injury to the claimant was reasonably foreseeable by the defendant[65]. The court allowed the claims of Mr. McCarthy as he satisfied the Alcock criteria for recovery of claims for psychiatric illness. . of Ireland (1884) illustrate that even though no physical injury occurred, the plaintiff was clearly in physical danger and therefore was allowed recovery. The House of Lords ' Cases In any action for damages in the tort of negligence, the plaintiff has to The Court of Appeal (by a majority) found in favour of all but one of the officers. According to him, in all the psychiatric injury cases, a distinction or classification of the potential claimants is essential. Only full case reports are accepted in court. Lord Dyson MR felt that damages for psychiatric illness could not be recovered in respect of consequences witnessed months, and . We do not provide advice. The distinction normally made between primary and secondary victims claiming damages for shock in witnessing a terrible event does not apply to employees who were obliged by their contract to be present. At one stage, the motor lorry started off by itself and went down the incline with a high speed where the claimant left her children playing. Similary, the defendant argued that, in the present case, the claimant was far away from the actual place of the accident and did not see what happened there. The Irish courts have been much more responsive in allowing recovery for nervous shock. As a result, the law in this area seems to be complex as well as inconsistent. Facts. He was seriously injured. This took place while Robertson was driving the van on a carriageway which was high above the water. Consequently, actions brought by the potential claimants or the victims of psychiatric illness have often been unsuccessful for a number of reasons despite of having been suffered genuine recognized psychiatric injury[1]. Appeal from - White, Frost and others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire and others HL 3-Dec-1998. The plaintiff sought medical advice and was told there was a risk that he could contract mesothelioma. Two recent nervous shock cases in Ireland, Fletcher v Commissioners for Public Works [2003] I.L.R.M.94 and Packenham v Irish Ferries Limited [2004] will be discussed , concluding that in Ireland , a policy approach has been adopted based on a standard set of criteria. 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