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. Over the years as claims have increased, while it is arguable, for a need for criteria to be developed , to prevent a floodgate of claims , one has to feel that some of the decisions , particularly in relation to cases such as Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police , appear to be particularly harsh , in respect of the claimants. The accident took place when the victims car collided with the defendants lorry which was itself collided with another lorry. In other words psychiatric shock was to be treated as direct personal injury. The case centred upon the liability of the police for the nervous shock suffered in consequence of the events of the Hillsborough disaster . However, subsequently Lord Lloyd in the case of Page v Smith[13]further emphasized upon the distinction between the primary and secondary victims. Up until the early 20th century in England, courts have been reluctant to allow recovery for nervous shock. Held: The general rules restricting the recovery of damages for pure psychiatric harm applied to the plaintiffs claims as employees. Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1998] QB 254 permitting recovery by injured on- duty police officers. Fletcher v Commissioners for Public Works [2003] 2 I.L.R.M.94. [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. Ninety six Liverpool fans were killed and many more seriously injured in a massive crush during the FA Cup Semi Final at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield . It was the case of King v Phillips[44] in which the claimant having suffered psychiatric illness failed to establish a claim against the defendant as the court considered that the victim was far away from the accident. Cited Hinz v Berry CA 1970 Then plaintiff saw her husband killed and her children injured by a runaway motor car. The secondary victims are required by the existing law to satisfy or establish additional criteria before they can bring a claim for psychiatric injury against the negligent defendant which has been discussed elaborately in the later chapters. If you are the original writer of this dissertation and no longer wish to have your work published on the UKDiss.com website then please: Our academic writing and marking services can help you! Copyright 2003 - 2023 - UKDiss.com is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. 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 claim was rejected by the House of Lords on the basis that none of the claimants could be considered "primary . Marital or parental relationship between plaintiff and . It was not reasonably foreseeable by the defendant that the claimant would suffer any kind of mental damage in such a way. In Alcock v Chief Constable Of South shire Police [1992] 1 AC 310, 407, Lord Oliver introduced a broader classification of the primary victims as including those involved, either mediately or immediately or , as a participant in the event causing them psychiatric illness. 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. The present law in this area seems to be very rigid and restrictive for the secondary victims. Note White was known as Frost v. Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police in the Court of Appeal] LORD GOFF My Lords, These appeals arise from further proceedings following the tragic events which occurred at the Hillsborough Football Stadium in Sheffield on 15 April 1989, when 95 spectators died and hundreds more were injured, one fatally, as . . Lord Steyn and Lord Hoffmann, Lord Browne-Wilkinson Gazette 13-Jan-1999, [1999] 1 All ER 1, [1999] 2 AC 455, [1998] UKHL 45, [1999] ICR 216, [1998] 3 WLR 1509, [1999] IRLR 110, (1999) 45 BMLR 1 House of Lords, Bailii England and Wales Citing: Appeal from Frost and Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire and Others CA 31-Oct-1996 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. Copyright 2003 - 2023 - LawTeacher is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. Frost and Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police and Others (1996) The Times, 6 November, CA. Genearlly, the defendants are not liable to the claimants for causing psychiatric injury by means of self inflicted physical injuries. However, an action for psychatric injury was brought by the claimant against the defendant and the owners of the garage[57]. Although the boy arrived home eventually but his mother suffered from a nervous shock[45]. . Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of LawTeacher.net. Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1997] 3 WLR 1194. After a long examination of the case law by several of their Lordships, the three control Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999] 2 AC 455 at 500. . 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. swarb.co.uk is published by David Swarbrick of 10 Halifax Road, Brighouse, West Yorkshire, HD6 2AG. It was agreed between the parties that the only issue was whether they could satisfy the criterion of . [17] As per Mr. Bankes, Atkin and Sargant L.JJ [1925] 1 K.B 141 at page 142. Open Document. Employment > Health and safety; 141. 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. Kearns J [2003] stated the category of relationships entitled to successfully claim damages for nervous shock should be tightly restricted.. We do not provide advice. 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. It was held by the court that (according to the decision of Bourhill case), the defendant owes no liability towards the claimant although there was a liability in relation to the accident of the boy. Such a relationship which is full of close tie and affection may be presumed to exist into the familial relationship or close friendship. It seems apparent from the Alcock case judgments that the court will only emphasize on close tie of love and affection before allowing any secondary victims to establish a claim and recover damages for psychiatric illness. Whether a person is to be regarded as a rescuer will be a question of fact to be decided on the . [23] Davie M (1992) Negligently Inflicted Psychiatric Illness: The Hillsborough Case in the House of Lords 43 Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 237. . 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. [65] Cases and Commentary on Tort, by Barbara Harvey & John Marston, 5th Edition. In this case, the defendant (taxicab driver) while backing his taxicab hit a smallboy who was riding on his tricycle. Finally, the secondary victim is required to satisfy the court that his psychiatric illness was a direct result of witnessing or hearing of the traumatic event or its immediate aftermath[26]. In Alcock case, the House of Lords took the view that- the secondary victims will be entitled to establish a claim and recover damages for psychiatric injury if he can establish the fact that, the defendant could have reasonably foreseen that he would suffer from a psychiatric illness due to the negligent act as there was proximity of relationship between both the primary and secondary victims. Rough was also driving another van from a few feet behind the Robersons van. 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. .Cited French and others v Chief Constable of Sussex Police CA 28-Mar-2006 The claimants sought damages for psychiatric injury. Before discussing the above cases, it is essential to give a brief outline of the term nervous shock and its history. 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]. Held: The claim failed: these claimants have no . 3 Frost v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1997] 3 WLR 1194. It was held by Salmon J. . stream [45] Cases and Commentary on Tort, by Barbara Harvey & John Marston, 5th Edition. The judge found in favour of ten out of the plaintiffs and against six of them. Published: 2nd Jul 2019. However, the defendants appeal was allowed by the Court of Appeal and on the other hand it did not allow the unsuccessful claimants appeal. The House of Lords however, held that for the purposes of distinction between primary and secondary victims, that rescuers were not in a special position in the law. [19] As per Lord Wilberforce [1883] 1 A.C. 410 at Page 411. Again this development of the proximity of relationship in this case seems quite unfair to some of the claimants who were seeking compensation as they would not have been aware previously of this .The principle of proximity of time and place was also applied in this case, where a claimant failed to recover. This was a test case . Times 06-Nov-1996, [1996] EWHC CA 173if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,100],'swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-3','ezslot_6',114,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-3-0'); Bailiiif(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-4','ezslot_5',113,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-4-0'); Appeal from Frost and Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire QBD 3-Jul-1995 Trained rescuers have to be assumed to have a higher distress threshold because of their training and experience, and if a claim for psychiatric injury is to be made out, they must show some exceptional and particular situation to justify the claim. The plaintiff, Mr Smith was deemed to be a primary victim, since he was involved in the accident and risked personal injury. The UK High Court has found that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) infringed the privacy of renowned musician Sir Cliff Richard (Sir Cliff) by broadcasting a raid by the South Yorkshire Police (the SYP) following an allegation of historical sexual . 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 .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 . Mental Health can have a positive or negative impact on our behaviour, decision-making, and actions, as well as our general health and well-being. 10 Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police . Prior to this, the initial response of the common law to claims relating to nervous shock, was to deny responsibility. 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 . However , he was failed to meet the criteria of immediate aftermath of the disaster. Both the judgements given by Stephenson and Griffith LJ was appreciated and therefore agreed by Cumming-Bruce LJ. It appears in analysing this case that the House of Lords were conscious of the judgment made in the Alcock case. The law has imposed lots of requirements for the secondary victims before they can successfully make a psychiatric injury claim. Mentioned Walker v Northumberland County Council QBD 16-Nov-1994 The plaintiff was a manager within the social services department. Case summaries. [70] As per Griffith LJ [1981] 1 All ER 809 at page 829. Disclaimer: This essay has been written by a law student and not by our expert law writers. White v Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police was a 1998 case in English tort law in which police officers who were present in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster sued for post traumatic stress disorder. .if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-4','ezslot_4',113,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-swarb_co_uk-medrectangle-4-0'); Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete. The presence of such plaques were symptomless, and would not themselves cause other asbestos related disease, but . [9] NJ Mullany, Psychiatric damage in the House of Lords- Fourth time Unlucky: Page v Smith (1995) 3 Journal of Law and Medicine 112. Sir Cliff Richard OBE V The British Broadcasting Corporation; The Chief Constable Of South Yorkshire Police [2018] EWHC 1837 (Ch) Summary. The claimant appealed against the decision of the trial judge to the Court of Appeal. The Plaintiff had a pre-existing chronic fatigue syndrome, which manifested itself from time . 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. The injuries were psychiatric, being suffered when they witnessed a crash from the ground. He then got really worried and started looking for him around but there was no trace of his brother in law. The distinction between primary victim and secondary victim was made in the Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, where all claimants were secondary victims. Byrne v Southern and Western RY .Co. 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. [39] As per Cazalet LJ. As a result of the negligence of the police department, ninety six spectators died in a massive crash and more than approximately four hundred spectators were severely injured in that accident. 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. Packenham v Irish Ferries . The plaintiff worried excessively and developed reactive anxiety neurosis, a psychiatric illness. [1999] 2 AC 455. [34] Cases and Commentary on Tort, by Barbara Harvey & John Marston, 5th Edition. D was under a duty to take reasonable steps to protect his employees from the risk of physical harm, but there was no extension of this duty to protect C from psychiatric harm when they were not exposed to any risk of physical injury. The Law Commission Report, Liability for Psychiatric Illnesses, McLaughlin v O Brian (1983) AC 410 310 AT 407. . A live television broadcast of that match was running from the ground. .Cited Waters v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis HL 27-Jul-2000 A policewoman, having made a complaint of serious sexual assault against a fellow officer complained again that the Commissioner had failed to protect her against retaliatory assaults. If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have your work published on LawTeacher.net then please: Our academic writing and marking services can help you! Updated: 01 November 2022; Ref: scu.80695. 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