CASES Psychiatric Harm
Intro: su*er from recognised psychiatric condition
Vernon v Bosley – grief not recognised psychiatric condition on its own (father watched child drown in
car)
Reilly v Merseyside – anxiety alone not enough, needs more like panic attacks or severe anxiety
(anxiety after trapped in faulty lift)
Primary victims:
Dulieu v White – primary victim as at risk of harm & in danger zone (pregnant worker at bar gave birth
prematurely when horse and cart drove into the bar)
Page v Smith – primary victim (at risk of foreseeable physical injury from being involved in the accident)
Secondary victims:
McLoughlin v O’Brien
Rescuers:
Chadwick v British Railway Board – primary victim as at risk in the danger zone (rescuer crawled into
tunnel site railway crash to help people & suAered PTSD)
Duty of Care
Primary Victims- Pre-existing precedent:
Robinson v CCWY police – duty care owed by D to C if there’s pre-existing precedent with similar facts
Nettleship v Weston – learners & driving
Wells v Cooper – amateurs
Mullins v Richards – children owe to others
Bolam v Friern Hospital – doctors owe to patients & professionals
R v Gibbins & Proctor – parents owe to children
Donoghue v Stevenson – manufacturers owe to consumers
Paris v Stepney Borough Council – employers owe to their employees
Caparo v Dickman (test for duty of care 3 parts) – Caparo test:
1. Foreseeability – Kent v GriJiths (further farm foreseeable if ambulance late no reason)
2. Proximity – Bourhill v Young (no proximity as pregnant lady in a safe space at time accident)
3. Policy – fair just and reasonable to impose duty Hill v CCWY (courts reluctant impose duty on
public bodies) but recent case Robinson blanket immunity no longer exists against police and
Intro: su*er from recognised psychiatric condition
Vernon v Bosley – grief not recognised psychiatric condition on its own (father watched child drown in
car)
Reilly v Merseyside – anxiety alone not enough, needs more like panic attacks or severe anxiety
(anxiety after trapped in faulty lift)
Primary victims:
Dulieu v White – primary victim as at risk of harm & in danger zone (pregnant worker at bar gave birth
prematurely when horse and cart drove into the bar)
Page v Smith – primary victim (at risk of foreseeable physical injury from being involved in the accident)
Secondary victims:
McLoughlin v O’Brien
Rescuers:
Chadwick v British Railway Board – primary victim as at risk in the danger zone (rescuer crawled into
tunnel site railway crash to help people & suAered PTSD)
Duty of Care
Primary Victims- Pre-existing precedent:
Robinson v CCWY police – duty care owed by D to C if there’s pre-existing precedent with similar facts
Nettleship v Weston – learners & driving
Wells v Cooper – amateurs
Mullins v Richards – children owe to others
Bolam v Friern Hospital – doctors owe to patients & professionals
R v Gibbins & Proctor – parents owe to children
Donoghue v Stevenson – manufacturers owe to consumers
Paris v Stepney Borough Council – employers owe to their employees
Caparo v Dickman (test for duty of care 3 parts) – Caparo test:
1. Foreseeability – Kent v GriJiths (further farm foreseeable if ambulance late no reason)
2. Proximity – Bourhill v Young (no proximity as pregnant lady in a safe space at time accident)
3. Policy – fair just and reasonable to impose duty Hill v CCWY (courts reluctant impose duty on
public bodies) but recent case Robinson blanket immunity no longer exists against police and
