McLoughlin v. O'Brian

"McLoughlin v O’Brian" [1982] 2 All ER 298 is a decision of the House of Lords dealing with dealing with the possibility of recovering psychiatric harm suffered as a result of an accident in which one's family was involved.

Facts

The plaintiff found out about the traffic accident in which her family was involved when a friend came to her house to tell her. He drove her to the hospital where she saw her daughter dead and her husband and two other children seriously injured, all still covered in oil and mud. She suffered serious nervous shock as a result and sued the defendant who was responsible for the accident.

Judgment

The House of Lords (Lord Wilberforce delivering the leading speech) gave judgment in favour of the plaintiff. To recover nervous shock for somebody who was not directly involved in the accident, there had to be a close relationship between the plaintiff and the accident's victims. Furthermore, the plaintiff was to be in close proximity to the accident in time and place. The last condition was held to be fulfilled in a case where the plaintiff was not at the site of the actual accident, but had witnessed its immediate aftermath. This was held to be the case here: witnessing her dead daughter and badly injured family was for Mrs McLoughlin equivalent to being in the immediate aftermath of the disaster which had happened to them.

ee also

*Nervous shock (English Law)