Ruth Hewitt provides an update on how & when secondary victims can run successful compensation claims
“Secondary victims” are those people who are not at risk of physical injury because of the defendant’s negligence, but do suffer a psychiatric injury as a result of witnessing the injury of a loved one. Alcock & others v The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police (1992) AC 310 is the leading case, arising out of the Hillsborough disaster. This case set out what a claimant must prove to recover compensation as a secondary victim:
- A close tie of love and affection with the primary victim;
- close proximity to the incident in time and place;
- perception of the event or its aftermath; and
- that the psychiatric illness that had been followed had been induced by the event.
When judgment was delivered in Alcock , it was only the third time that “nervous shock” had been considered by the House of Lords. It was acknowledged that this was because the number of cases brought by secondary victims had increased due to greater understanding and recognition of psychiatric
