Psychiatric Illness Flashcards
Primary victim- a rescuer who places them self in danger or reasonably believes to be doing so.
CHADWICK V BRITISH RAILWAY BOARD 1967
C heard the scene of the lewisham railway accident that killed 90 people. He worked through the night helping in rescue. He developed acute anxiety neurosis which required him to be an in patient for over 6 months.
Primary Victim- someone involved directly in the accident who suffers following it.
PAGE V SMITH 1995
D drove car across C’s path causing an accident. C suffered the previous 20 years from M.E which was in remission at the time of the accident. 3 hours after the accident he felt exhausted and the exhaustion continued.
D admitted to negligence but not psychiatric damage as it wasn’t foreseeable.
Created the test of is the injury reasonably foreseeable.
Primary victim- anyone who is in fear of being in danger
DULIEU V WHITE AND SONS 1901
C a pregnant barmaid, suffered show and had a premature birth when a cart and runway horses crashed through the pub where she was working. she was in fear of her own safety.
Secondary victims- the nature of the relationship between the claimant and primary victim.
Has to be a close tie of live and affection(spouse/parent&schools)
not a mere bystander- BOURHILL V YOUNG 1943
Heard noise of the accident and later saw bloody on the road. No close tie, not a primary victim. She was no more than a bystander, to whom no duty of care was owed.
Secondary victim- the proximity of the claimant to the accident or its immediate aftermath.
MCLOUGHLIN V O’BRUEN 1983
C’s husband and 3 children were involved in a road accident and her youngest daughter died. C arrived at hospital finding husband and children in distress. It was sufficiently close.
ATKINSON V ANOR SEGHAL 2003- immediate aftermath
C attended the scene where she learned of her daughters death. travelled to the mortuary 15 minutes later. The immediate aftermath extended from the Moment of the accident until the moment the C left the mortuary.
Secondary victim- the means by which the claimant perceived the events or received the information.
Must be through own unaided senses and not a 3rd party.
HAMBROOM V STOKES BROS 1925
Mother witness a runaway lorry down the hill where she had just left her children outside school. The shock of witnessing this event produced a psychiatric reaction. It was induced by what she had seen and not what she was told.
Secondary victim- the manner in which the psychiatric illness was caused.
Has to be sudden and not a gradual build up.
