That means, unless and until the court is satisfied that the secondary victim was physically present at the very scene of the accident along with the other two requirements then a claim for psychiatric illness will unlikely to be allowed[41]. 2 Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1992] 1 AC 310. Programme for stress management. His Lordship further continued that, the present case is distinguishable from the case of King v Phillips[61]. The defendant admitted that they were negligent in relation to the death of her daughter as well as injury to her rest of the family members but simply denied any kind of liabilty for negligently causing psychiatric injury to her. reversed Court of Appeal decision in Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire [1997] 1 All ER 540, which found Ps were primary victims as rescuers; [7] Nervous Shock-when is it compensable? An action was brought by her husband for the loss of benefit of her services. Generally, primary victims do not face too many hurdles in order to establish a claim as long as certain tests are satisfied. That was a very strong windy day when the tragic accident took place. The distinction between primary and secondary victims is well worth noting. They said that the defendants negligent treatment allowed the attack to take place. The claimant was a fire officer who attended the tragic accident being informed in the course of his employment. Mental Health of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors. 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 . Moreover, Denning LJ[55] took the view that, the defendant was under a duty of care to the boy where there was a breach of that duty of care, but as far as the claimants nervous shock was concerned, it was not reasonably foreseeable by the defendant that the claimant could be suffered from a nervous shock as a result of the accident. Most importantly, the development of the law in this area has been influenced by policy considerations, that is to say, to restrict the large number of potential claimants. The lorry ran violently down the hill. . Interestingly, it was also stated the purpose of the visit was to identify the body and not to aid the injured or rescue victims as in other compensation cases. He took the view that, there was no negligence on the part of Keith Keel but the defedant was negligent and committed a breach of his duty of care. The House of Lord were thus called upon to revisit the distinction between primary and secondary victims set out in Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire ([1992] 1 AC 310). .Cited McLoughlin v Jones; McLoughlin v Grovers (a Firm) CA 2002 In deciding whether a duty of care is established the court must go to the battery of tests which the House of Lords has taught us to use, namely: . The claimants alleged that the police constable were responsible for everything who failed to control the crowed and consequently the horrible disaster took place which not only caused the death or injury to the spectators but also caused psychiatric illness to the relatives of the deceased or injured as they were watching or hearing the news of the disasters. No plagiarism, guaranteed! The facts of this case are as follows, the plaintiff, Mr. As secondary victims they, like the bystanders or spectators, were not entitled to recover damages for their psychiatric illness. In the case of Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999] Lord Steyn stated that the area of Tort Law relating to psychiatric trauma is rather complex. Section A The codification of directors duties was an unnecessary step. The relationship between the claimants and the deceased was described by the court as- Robertson was a person of fifty six years old who had known Smith for ages. More news from across Yorkshire 1 . The claimants eight year old son was very close to the near side door of the car and was playing there. >> .Cited James-Bowen and Others v Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis SC 25-Jul-2018 The Court was asked whether the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (the Commissioner) owes a duty to her officers, in the conduct of proceedings against her based on their alleged misconduct, to take reasonable care to protect them from . Also the plaintiff had to establish that the nervous shock caused by the accident, resulted from her fear for her own safety. To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below: UK law covers the laws and legislation of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The Court of Appeal upheld the judgement that was delivered by Boreham J but on different ground. Case summaries. The most recent of which was Frost v The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire which resulted from the Hillsborough tragedy. Essential Cases: Tort Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. The 2003 decision of Fletcher v Commissioners for Public Works clearly demonstrates this point. So, it is the secondary victims who are required to prove the fact that he has sustained a psychiatric injury because the person with whom he is in a close relationship has in fact suffered from a severe physical injury. During the course of the disaster, scenes were broadcasted live on the television. The claimant argued that the defendant was under a duty of care to drive his taxicab carefully not to inflict any kind of physical and emotional damage to the people. The children had severe head and face injuries, concussion and fractures. In Page v Smith this distinction was further developed. Nervous shock is a term used in English law to denote psychiatric illness or injury inflicted upon a person by intentional or negligent actions or omissions of another. Keywords: rescue; compensation for hillsborough rescuers. Secondly, C argued that they fell within the ambit of primary victims, and should thus be permitted to succeed with an ordinary claim in negligence. She was admitted to the hospital and when operated a dead foetus was removed. All of them were connected in various ways . Looking for a flexible role? Lord Steyn's observation in Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999] 2 AC 455, was that while, "the law on the recovery of compensation for pure psychiatric harm is . . In the case of Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999] Lord Steyn stated that the area of Tort Law relating to psychiatric trauma is rather complex. After the Alcock case, the English courts have adopted a further strict approach of the requirement of close tie of love and affection when there is an issue of successful action for psychiatric illness by the secondary victims. The Plaintiff had a pre-existing chronic fatigue syndrome, which manifested itself from time . Open Document. There is indeed a sense of remoteness in this case. The above judgment in White v The Chief Constable allowed the defendants' appeal against the 1997 Court of Appeal decision in Frost & Ors. The only prudent course is to treat the pragmatic categories as reflected in in authoritative decisions such as the Alcock case and Page v. Smith as settled for the time being, but by and large to leave any expansion or development in this corner of the law to Parliament. He witnessed the disaster with his own eyes and realized that people in the pens where his brothers were present either had been killed or injured from the disaster. Only recognisable psychiatric illness would qualify for in such claims. Hall v gwent healthcare nhs trust 2004 qb c hall was. The plaintiffs wife had been walking up the . During the match, he was on the west stand of the football stadium who knew that both of his brothers would be witnessing the match from the pens behind the goal. A rescuer or an employee suffering such psychiatric illness is also classified as a secondary victim (unless they are themselves endangered in the event). Having witnessed the accident, the claimant later suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. The recent case of Crystal Taylor v A Novo (UK) Ltd CA (2013) re-examined the particular issue of proximity, together with the underlying policy considerations. [23] Davie M (1992) Negligently Inflicted Psychiatric Illness: The Hillsborough Case in the House of Lords 43 Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 237. [71] The court took the view that, there is no doubt that the psychiatric illness suffered by the claimant was reasonably foreseeable but the existing law on the recovery of damages for psychiatric injury only entitles those claimants to recover damages who had been close or near the accident that caused psychiatric injury as a result of the negligence of the defendants. School King's College London; Course Title LAW 10999; Uploaded By ColonelHeatKudu28. In the case of Brice v Brown[4], hysterical personality disorder was considered to be a psychiatric injury. However, Mr. Bankes, Atkin and Sargant L.JJ. This took place while Robertson was driving the van on a carriageway which was high above the water. Do you have a 2:1 degree or higher? Only Parliament could take such a step. . Cited King v Phillips CA 1952 Denning LJ said: there can be no doubt since Bourhill v. Young that the test of liability for shock is foreseeability of injury by shock. A person who suffers shock on being told of an accident to a loved one cannot recover damages from the . In Alcock v. Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1992] 1 A.C. 310, claims were brought by those who had suffered psychiatric injury as a result of the Hillsborough disaster. *595 Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police. The House considered claims by police officers who had suffered psychiatric injury after tending the victims of the Hillsborough tragedy. Many of the claimants witnessed horrific images and scenes of carnage on the television . The Court of Appeal (by a majority) found in favour of all but one of the officers. However, unlike the Alcock case, it was the case of McCarthy v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police[33]where the claimant (secondary victims) was successful in bringing an action for psychiatric illness against the defendants (Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police). However, during the journey, a very strong wind thrown the metal sheet and Smith away while he was sitting on top of it. A large tower was constructed in the Docklands area of East London which now goes by the name of One Canada Square Capacity and Medical Consent. At common law the secondary victims (like the bystanders or spectators) who suffer psychiatric illness as a result of witnessing a defendant negligently endangering or injuring others who are unrelated to them in love and affection, cannot recover. They used to walk to and from their workplace quite frequently. In that case, the defendant did not reasonably foresee that the claimant would suffer from psychiatric injury as she was too far away from the actual place of the accident. 182 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<86982BFA68EE9E4388F223A8853489C3><2512F63CFFE58F428782346685734F90>]/Index[164 60]/Info 163 0 R/Length 98/Prev 536609/Root 165 0 R/Size 224/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream The second issue was- whether the defendant owes a duty of care to the claimant not to inflict any kind of physical injury or harm to himself. Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999] 2 AC 455 at 500. . In this case, the claimant argued that he was entitled to recover damages for psychiatric injury as he satisfied all the additional criteria for recovery which have been laid down in the case of Alcock[38]. The House of Lords (by a majority) in Page v Smith, enhanced the recovery of the primary victim over the secondary victim. Hamrook v Stokes Bros (1925) 1 K.B. The courts both in England and Ireland have endeavoured to limit the scope of liability for psychiatric illness, by establishing a set of criteria that a claimant/s must fulfil in order to be entitled to compensation. Cited Brice v Brown 1984 The plaintiff, a lady with a hysterical personality disorder since childhood, had a minor taxi accident and then developed a major psychiatric illness bizarre behaviour, suicide attempts, pleading with people to cut her head off in response to a . In this instance, mental illness was accompanied by a physical trauma i.e. Page -v- Smith [1995] 2 All ER 736 at 759, 761 per Lord Lloyd. D h.d.CFPxe @0RI4 #Pm'Qc^FF" -P!P)Hljc6f.X{81,qxn;G#1t._!c 6jlw(9OAEiQ*Jr.JEW; v}qsF{-HE qx#>#erJ5$afH" :s8C1@( di4)bH'=8 pKzx2DjkZhh"lc+*`>p@>*& "$x [58] As per Salmon J. A person will be considered as secondary victim if he was present at the scene of the horrifying event and subsequently sustained a psychiatric injury due to witnessing the accident or event in which other person was involved, although he himself was out of the range of foreseeable physical injury[10]. [1964] 1 W.L.R CA 1317 at page 1317. Filters. That is to say, the secondary victims must establish a close relationship with the primary victims. They could only recover if they were exposed to physical danger as primary victims. Lord Oliver[30] thought that, Mr. Brians action failed not only because he could not provide with evidence of close tie of love and affection but also because the perception of the shocking event was gradual as opposed to the sudden appreciation by sight or sound of a horrifying event. In this case, the court was concerned whether the claimants fall into the category of secondary victims and therefore entitled to bring an action against the defendants. [1999] 2 AC 455. endstream endobj startxref [1953] 1 All ER 617 at page 621. We've received widespread press coverage since 2003, Your UKDiss.com purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on Reviews.io. Moreover, a rescuer in relation to whom physical injury was not reasonably foreseeable could not recover damages for psychiatric injury sustained by witnessing, or participating in the aftermath of, an accident which had caused death or injury to others; such rescuers were to be categorised as secondary victims, and so would have to meet the conditions specified by Lord Oliver in Alcock. Frost and Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police and Others (1996) The Times, 6 November, CA . Her claim was struck out, but restored on appeal. CA"$a& ,@jj DCn*Bt!\&;i~(JkGAI40-,,l_66PK$UHCT)FnpdC\uJ*C.W@tjJ9mG9#=8 }+,CPkkHYUTVJ_6YGw.=t]C8yjb[(B~*bhO]ijp+2C+asL!!\Bx*V'G/8W-d8y~M=_T\$eZA Although, the other defendants were held not to be liable for negligence, especially Keith, who was giving directions to the defendant while he was backing his car out of the garage. She suffered serious nervous shock as a result and sued the defendant who was responsible for the accident. miscarriage. No damages for Psychiatric Harm Alone. Held: . So, in this situation- Singleton LJ. The English courts frequently face claims brought by the secondary victims; as a result great deal of attention has been drawn towards the secondary victims cases[14]. . The House of Lords, although divided in as to their reasoning, delivered a judgment in favour of the plaintiff. . Cited Hinz v Berry CA 1970 Then plaintiff saw her husband killed and her children injured by a runaway motor car. Disclaimer: This essay has been written by a law student and not by our expert law writers. . When faced with these two decisions, one can't help but recall the comment of Lord Steyn in Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire [1992] 2 AC 455 (at 511), who considered that "the search for principle was called off in Alcock". Free resources to assist you with your university studies! Interestingly, in this instance, the courts decided that it was not necessary for the plaintiff to actually witness the incident. The case was known as Frost and Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police and Others [1997] 1 All ER 540 in the lower courts. Different kinds of harm The horrific events of 15 April 1989 at the . Although the boy arrived home eventually but his mother suffered from a nervous shock[45]. As a result of the tragic death of his workmate he was so upset and mentally distressed. Cited Chadwick v British Railways Board 1967 Mr Chadwick tried to bring relief and comfort to the victims of the Lewisham train disaster in December 1967. Such cases highlight to me, that recovery for damages relating to nervous shock, is probably one of the most controversial and complex areas of modern law. The carriageway was too high that any person fell from that distance would unlikely to survive. .Cited Paul and Another v The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust QBD 4-Jun-2020 Nervous shock liability to third parties The claimants witnessed the death of their father from a heart attack. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,100],'swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-3','ezslot_5',114,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-3-0'); Cited by: Cited Keen v Tayside Contracts OHCS 26-Feb-2003 The claimant sought damages for post traumatic stress disorder. He drove her to the hospital where she saw her dead daughter, and her husband and two other children seriously injured, all still covered in oil and mud. Three were on duty at the ground itself; one had attempted to free spectators while the other two had attended the makeshift morgue in the gymnasium. Principle of Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police (1998) police officers who were present in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster sued for post traumatic stress disorder. The reason for such unwillingness might be presumed that- the ordinary bystanders must be assumed to have sufficient strength or courage to undergo the calamities of modern life. A number of claimants had witnessed the horrific scenes on the television or had been informed by a third party. Before discussing the above cases, it is essential to give a brief outline of the term nervous shock and its history. Again, in the case of Fenn v City of Peterborough[64], the claimant arived home couple of minutes after a gas explosion in which he lost his three children. In this case, the court considered chronic fatigue syndrome to be a recognizable psychiatric injury[9]. On the basis of the facts of this case, three preliminary questions arose which were as follows: The first issue was, whether the defendant (the primary victim/ son of the claimant) owes any duty of care towards the claimant (secondary victim) for not causing any psychiatric injury by self inflicted physical injuries. [17] took the view that, the mother suffered nervous shock by her own unaided realization of what she had seen with her own eyes, not because of what she learnt from a bystander. . The married mother-of-one began her policing career in 1998 with Humberside Police and joined South Yorkshire Police in 2017 as Assistant Chief Constable. 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. She suffered nervous shock that affected her pregnancy and caused her injury. The House of Lords reversed the Court of Appeal decision in Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire [1997] 1 All ER 540, which had found that the plaintiffs were primary victims, as rescuers. There are a number of subsequent cases which might be contrasted with the decision given in the case of King v Philips. The plaintiff sought medical advice and was told there was a risk that he could contract mesothelioma. To a loved one can not recover damages from the they were exposed to physical danger as victims... That was a fire officer who attended the tragic accident being informed in the of! 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