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Construction worker loses damages claim

04 August 2008

A man who witnessed the death of a colleague while working on the Wembley Stadium site has lost his claim for damages.

Stephen Monk, 43, from Braintree, Essex had been working on the site when a temporary platform fell 60 feet, killing one man and injuring another, 24dash.com reports.

Despite going back to work shortly after the incident, Mr Monk has been unable to work since March 2005.

However, Deputy Judge George Leggatt QC said his was unlike other personal injury cases, ruling that Mr Monk had not been the "primary victim" of the crane operator's neglegence.

Describing him as a "secondary victim", the judge stated that Mr Monk's post-traumatic stress discorder was caused by witnessing the "immediate aftermath" of the fatal accident, but he had not been involved directly.

"In order to be entitled to recover damages from the defendant in these circumstances, Mr Monk would therefore need to satisfy the further conditions imposed as 'control mechanisms' to limit recovery by secondary victims," he said.

Mr Monk "did not have the close tie of love and affection" for the physical victims, which is "a necessary requirement", he added.

The stadium's arch is 133 metres tall at its highest point and can be seen 13 miles away at Canary Wharf.

More than 200 people worked on the fabrication and assembley of the structure.

Matthew Brandis, partner in litigation and dispute resolution team comments: "The Courts continue to develop personal injury law - and most recently they have been narrowing the categories of potential claimants (the previous landmark case limiting liability related to pleural plaques - this is the fibrous thickening of the lungs caused by asbestos which has no symptoms - the court decided there was no case against the former employer (case of Rothwell)).