IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT IN CIVIL CLAIMS IN LEGACY CASES

KRW LAW LLP act on behalf of Eileen O’Halloran in proceedings in the High Court in Belfast in a civil action alleging collusion against the state agencies including the British Army and the RUC in relation to a bomb explosion on 7th April 1975 in which her husband, Martin O’Halloran, was seriously injured whilst standing outside “The Hole in the Wall Club” in Belfast.

The perpetrator of the bomb, Trevor King, was a Loyalist paramilitary who was also an agent for the RUC and the MOD and a ‘super-grass’. He was killed by the IRA in 1990.

The claim being made by our client was for the nervous shock she sustained on hearing of the injuries to her husband.

Speaking today Anurag Deb of KRW LAW LLP said:

“This is a tragic case where our client was already suffering from the profound loss of her child when news of her husband’s serious and life-threatening injuries caused her serious psychiatric injury. Our client’s position in this case is an important point of principle. We say that the restrictions which the law has placed on secondary victims to claim for psychiatric injury in negligence claims should not apply to claims where an intentional harm was caused, as in this case. We are therefore pleased that the court has appreciated the importance of this argument in allowing our client’s claim to proceed and dismissing the State’s application to strike out the claim.

 

This judgment is also of great importance in Legacy cases generally, as victims continue to seek truthand justice in the Court.”