Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire

Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police
Court	House of Lords
Decided	28 December 1991
Citation(s)	[1992] 1 AC 310
Keywords
Negligence, nervous shock, primary and secondary victims

Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1991] UKHL 5, [1992] 1 AC 310 is a leading English tort law case on liability for nervous shock (psychiatric injury).

The claims were brought by Alcock and several other claimants after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 95 Liverpool fans died in a massive crush during the FA Cup Semi Final at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield. According to the Taylor Report (as well as the later report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel), the accident was caused by the police negligently allowing too many supporters to crowd in one part of the stadium. Many alleged to have seen their friends and relatives die in the crush and suffered psychiatric harm or nervous shock after the incident.

The plaintiffs in this case were mostly secondary victims, i.e. they were not "directly affected" as opposed to the primary victims who were either injured or were in danger of immediate injury. The Judicial Committee of the House of Lords, consisting of Lord Keith of Kinkel, Lord Ackner, Lord Oliver of Aylmerton, Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle, and Lord Lowry has established a number of "control mechanisms" or conditions that had to be fulfilled in order for a duty of care to be found in such cases.

...
Wikipedia