Wembley fatality witness loses claim

News | HSP
01.08.2008

A man who suffered post-traumatic stress after he saw his workmate die in an accident during construction of the new Wembley Stadium has lost his claim for compensation.

In January 2004, Stephen Monk witnessed a temporary platform fall 18 metres and hit two men working below. One of the men was killed and the other suffered a broken leg.

Monk himself was physically uninjured, but afterwards suffered anxiety, nightmares and suicidal thoughts. He became obsessed by safety on site, and has not worked since March 2005.

He claimed damages for psychiatric illness following the incident. The High Court rejected his claim on the basis that he was not a primary victim of the crane operator's negligent actions because he was not a rescuer or an unwilling participant.

Deputy Judge George Leggatt QC accepted that the accident had caused Monk serious harm, but said: "In my view, he was a 'secondary victim' whose post-traumatic stress disorder was caused by witnessing at first-hand the immediate aftermath of a fatal accident, but who was not himself directly involved in the accident as a participant."

To recover damages for psychiatric illness as a secondary victim, said Leggatt, Monk had to satisfy further criteria, including a "close tie of love and affection" with one of the primary victims, which he did not have.

If Monk's injury had been a direct physical injury, he said, there would be no doubt about the liability of the defendant, construction firm PC Harrington.