u $VnI=vJ--EmC\A$2Tat9iamg~>k,H7^V TJ=7jdv'6M:c 7c{}N8o}~p7k;? 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. [14] Secondary Victims and Nervous Shock by M Dunne (2000) BR 383. [36] As per Lord Hope [1995]S. C at page 364. Marital or parental relationship between plaintiff and . But he further took the view that, there is no reported English case decision where it has been established that whether a defendant owes any duty of care towards the claimant for not causing him a psychiatric injury by self inflicted injuries. 34 [1996] 1 AC 155. Published: 2nd Jul 2019. Held: The general rules restricting the recovery of damages for . 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. Decent Essays. 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. Others failed the close ties of love and affection . As secondary victims they, like the bystanders or spectators, were not entitled to recover damages for their psychiatric illness. It was held by Salmon J. .Cited Calvert v William Hill Credit Ltd ChD 12-Mar-2008 The claimant said that the defendant bookmakers had been negligent in allowing him to continue betting when they should have known that he was acting under an addiction. The claimants eight year old son was very close to the near side door of the car and was playing there. 12 Pages. Music background There are many examples where it has been seen that a person after sustaining a genuine shock could not recover damages for psychiatric illness only because of being failure to establish the fact that there was sufficient proximity of the secondary victim in time and place with the accident. The requirement of establishing proximity of relationship with the primary victims is one of the criteria. He continued that, the claimants nervous shock was too remote as a head of damage. But, when a bystander of a horrible event suffers from psychiatric injury, it becomes very difficult for him or her to establish a claim and recover damages for psychiatric injury, since such a person is not closely connected to the injured person. [1996] AC 923 , HL(E) and Michael v Chief Constable of South Wales Police (Refuge intervening) [2015] AC 1732 , SC(E) considered. So, after a very careful consideration of the facts and surrounding circumstances, his Lordship dismissed the defendants appeal. However, the defendants appeal was allowed by the Court of Appeal and on the other hand it did not allow the unsuccessful claimants appeal. Cited Malcolm v Broadhurst QBD 1970 The principle of foreseeability of psychiatric injury is subject to the qualification that, where the psychiatric injury suffered by the plaintiff is consequential upon physical injury for which the defendant is responsible in law, the defendant . had introduced the Special Rule . v The Chief Constable Of South Yorkshire Police ( [1997]1 All E R.540), their Lordships holding by a majority of 3 to 2 that the claims of the police officers had been rightly dismissed by the trial judge . [27] As per Lord Keith [1992] 1 AC 310 at page 397. It was the case of Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire, [11] where Lord Oliver for the first time drew the attention to the distinction between the primary and secondary victims. Disclaimer: This work was produced by one of our expert legal writers, as a learning aid to help law students with their studies. 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. Firm Rankings. 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. They claimed that because they were rescuers they should be treated as primary victims. 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. 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! In the present case, despite of being present at the stadium during the football match the claimants whose action had been rejected by the House of Lords are as follows[25]: Brian Harrison was one of the appellants. In my opinion, this case illustrates a change of approach in relation to nervous shock recovery. There was no doubt that each claimant had a nervous shock from the horrible disaster which caused psychiatric illness to them, but the question arose whether they were entitled to establish a claim and recover damages for psychiatric illness. 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. . Two of the plaintiffs were spectators in the ground, but not in the pens where the disaster occurred, the remainder of the plaintiffs learned of the disaster through . The claim was rejected by the House of Lords on the basis that none of the claimants could be considered "primary . << Similarly there are some other cases where the claimants were not actually present at the scene of the accident but the court still held the defendant liable for negligently inflicting psychaitric injury to the claimants. At common law a distinction is drawn between what is merely the ordinary emotion of grief, anxiety, fear and transient shock which does not constitute sufficient damage and the recognisable psychiatric illness that is established by expert medical evidence. Before discussing the above cases, it is essential to give a brief outline of the term nervous shock and its history. Then she went to see another child and found him unconscious. [29] As per Lord Oliver [1992] 1 AC 310 at page 417. [23] Davie M (1992) Negligently Inflicted Psychiatric Illness: The Hillsborough Case in the House of Lords 43 Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 237. The Court of Appeal's judgment has been discussed at some length by the present authors in an earlier article, "Nervous Shock, Rescuers and Employees - Primary or Secondary Victims?" [1998] SLJS 121. 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. At that time she was three of four months advanced in pregnancy. 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. This was a case which involved a huge disaster in the Hillsborough football stadium[23]. Two of the claimants found their relatives or friend severely injured whereby one of them had his relative who escaped unhurt. In reality there are no refined analytical tools which will enable the courts to draw lines by way of compromise solution in a way that is coherent and morally defensible. These standard criteria have made it more difficult to claim damages in Irish courts. .Cited Glen and Other v Korean Airlines Company Ltd QBD 28-Mar-2003 The claimant sought damages for personal injuries under the Act. Close ties of love and affection was assumed in relation to parent- child and spouse relationships. Again, there was neither any duty of care towards the claimant not to inflict any kind of physical injury or harm to himself nor there was any duty to the claimant not to cause him psychiatric injury by means of exposing him to the sight of the defendants self-inflicted injuries[40]. 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. In the Irish context, a different policy approach has been adopted and it appears to be more difficult to recover damages in relation to nervous shock , the strict criteria which have been laid down clearly demonstrate this viewpoint. 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 . The House of Lords in White v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police clarified that rescuers are not a special category of primary victim. [19] As per Lord Wilberforce [1883] 1 A.C. 410 at Page 411. 2 Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1992] 1 AC 310. The issue of communication by television was raised but not adequately dealt with. However, in this case, Lord Hope[36] adopted the explanation given by Lord Oliver in Alcock and held that, since there was no sufficient close tie of love between the claimants and the deceased, so therefore the claimants were not entitled to establish a successful claim for psychiatric illness. After ariving to the garage, the claimant was asked by the defendant to repay the garage bills before he get his car released from that garage. 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. The lorry ran violently down the hill. Furthermore, the issue of measurability was a concern. After the dismissal from the Court of Appeal, ten of the claimants made an appeal to the House of Lords against the decision given by the Court of Appeal. An action was brought by her husband for the loss of benefit of her services. foreseeability of psychiatric shock needed to be considered. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of LawTeacher.net. Both the judgements given by Stephenson and Griffith LJ was appreciated and therefore agreed by Cumming-Bruce LJ. During the course of the disaster, scenes were broadcasted live on the television. Cited Hambrook v Stokes Brothers CA 1925 The defendants employee left a lorry at the top of a steep narrow street unattended, with the engine running and without having taken proper steps to secure it. 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. Although, there was a rebuttable presumption that, in some cases, the close tie of love may exist between the engaged couples which might be even stronger than that of the married couples. Regretted Page v Smith HL 12-May-1995 The plaintiff was driving his car when the defendant turned into his path. Courts said the following elements are necessary to establish liability for nervous shock The plaintiff must establish that he suffered a recognizable psychiatric illness, the illness must have been shock induced; caused by the defendants act or omission. In the case of Benson v Lee[62], the claimant was informed that her son had an accident and sustained injuries. The employer could have checked up on him during his . Subsequently, breaking news in relation to the disaster was broadcasted over the television as well as radio time to time. Having heard the boys scream the claimant rushed there and saw the accident which caused psychiatric injury to him. They used to walk to and from their workplace quite frequently. 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. So, finally it was held by the majority of the Court of Appeal that the defendant owed no duty of care to the claimant even though her psychiatric injury was reasonably foreseeable. >> We and our partners share information on your use of this website to help improve your experience. 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. Abstract. His Lordship further continued that, the present case is distinguishable from the case of King v Phillips[61]. IMPORTANT:This site reports and summarizes cases. In England, the Dulieu v White and Sons [1901]2 KB 66 9 case was a landmark case in terms of the recovery of claims for psychiatric illnesses. Copyright 2003 - 2023 - LawTeacher is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. There are a number of subsequent cases which might be contrasted with the decision given in the case of King v Philips. However, as far as their claim for psychiatric illness was concerned, the court was neither convinced with the surrounding facts and circumstances that there was sufficient close tie of love and affection with the claimants and the primary victim nor was convinced that the psychiatric illness that they had sustained was reasonably foreseeable by the defendant in accordance with the recovery criteria for psychiatric illness established in the leading case of Alcock. [15] Kay Wheat (2003) Proximity and Nervous Shock Common Law World Review 32 4 (313). As far as the secondary victims claim for psychiatric illness is concerned, Lord Keith[27] in this case took the opinion that- he must establish a close tie of love and affection with the primary victim. The defendant company had a policy for achieving responsible gambling, . The claimant appealed to the House of Lords against the decision given by McNair J. Singleton LJ. Byrne v Southern and Western RY .Co. Generally, nervous shock is a term which has been used by lawyers. In this case, the claimant-namely Mr. McCarthy also lost his half brother in the Hillsborough disaster. The claimant brought an action against the defendant for causing psychiatric injury to him. According to the facts and circumstances of the present case, the clamant was not close to the place of the accident who was informed by someone of that after two hours. 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. Of them had his relative who escaped unhurt the issue of measurability was a concern be contrasted with the victims. So, after a very careful consideration of the term nervous shock is a term which frost v chief constable of south yorkshire... 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