Psychiatric Injury to Secondary Victim

Greatorex v Greatorex and others (QBD WLR 6 June)

The claimant was the father of the first defendant. The first defendant, who had been drinking, negligently drove a friend’s car on the wrong side of the road and in the ensuing crash suffered head injuries, was unconscious for about an hour and initially was trapped inside the car. The claimant as well as being the first defendant’s father, was also a leading fire officer who went to the scene in the course of his employment and, as a result of what he saw, suffered long-term severe post traumatic stress disorder, for which he claimed damages.