Q&As

Do you have any case law relating to secondary victim claims whereby the psychological injury was suffered as a result of the loss of children?

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Published by a ÑÇÖÞÉ«ÇéÍø PI & Clinical Negligence expert
Published on: 09 April 2018
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secondary victims

A secondary victim is one who suffers psychiatric injury not by being directly involved in the incident but by witnessing it and either:

  1. •

    seeing injury being sustained by a primary victim, or

  2. •

    fearing injury to a primary victim

For further guidance, see Practice Note: Psychiatric injury—secondary victims.

Case law

McLoughlin v O'Brian

In this case the claimant’s husband and three children were involved in a road accident caused by the negligence of the defendants. One of the claimant’s children was killed and its husband and other two children were severely injured. At the time of the accident the claimant was at home two miles away. The claimant claimed damages against the defendants for the nervous shock, distress and injury to its health caused by the defendants' negligence.

The House of Lords held that the test of liability for damages for nervous shock was reasonable foreseeability of the claimant being injured

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Key definition:
Secondary victim definition
What does Secondary victim mean?

is one who suffers psychiatric injury not by being directly involved in the incident but by witnessing it and either seeing injury being sustained by a primary victim or fearing injury to a primary victim.

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