Part two: damages after physical and psychiatric injury, by Rehana Azib
The issue of assessment of damages arose in Gray v (1) Thames Trains Ltd (2) Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd (Formerly Railtrack Plc) [2008] EWCA Civ 713, [2008] All ER (D) 326 (Jun). Gray, who had been involved in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash, appealed against a decision that he was not entitled to damages for loss of earnings due to the principle of ex turpi causa. Gray had suffered severe post traumatic stress disorder as a result of the crash and which had subsequently caused him to undergo a severe personality change. He later stabbed a stranger to death and was detained in a hospital under s 37 of the Mental Health Act 1983, after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Gray claimed damages on the basis that he was not able to earn as much as he would have done but for the accident. While the defendant admitted liability for loss of earnings up to the date of manslaughter, liability for losses incurred thereafter was denied on the basis of ex turpi causa. The trial
