Keys, Colin and Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Shaw J,Mr Shaw KC sitting as HCJ |
| Judgment Date | 29 June 2022 |
| Neutral Citation | [2022] NIQB 52 |
| Date | 29 June 2022 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2022] NIQB 52
Judgment: approved by the court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: SHA11880
ICOS No: 13/113672
Delivered: 29/06/2022
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION
___________
COLIN KEYS
Plaintiff
and
CHIEF CONSTABLE OF THE POLICE SERVICE OF NORTHERN IRELAND
Defendant
___________
Mr Brian Fee QC and Mr Stephen Toal BL (instructed by KRW Law, Belfast) for the
Plaintiff
Mr Nicholas Hanna QC, Mr Mark Robinson QC and Mr Donal Lunny QC
(instructed by the Crown Solicitor, Belfast) for the Defendant
___________
SHAW J
“Before you study the history, study the historian.”
EH Carr, What Is History? (1961)
Introduction
[1] After many weeks listening to a group action against the Chief Constable by
police officers claiming post-traumatic stress, Coghlin J observed in June 2007:
“The current mood of vibrant optimism [within N
Ireland] bears little or no comparison with the dark
despairing days of the terrorist campaign. That such a
mood now prevails is due in no small part to the quiet,
dignified, and dogged courage of ordinary men and
women who were prepared to place themselves and often
their families between anarchy and the Rule of Law.
2
Heroism does not only happen in headlines. In so doing
they found themselves experiencing a catalogue of
horrors that in some cases caused emotional damage as
real as that produced by bomb or bullet. For some,
troubled by persistent flashbacks and intrusive thoughts,
putting the past behind them may not be a realistic option
without having to undergo prolonged and distressing
treatment.”
Para 156 of the summary judgment in the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Group
Action by McClurg and others [2007] NIQB 53.
[2] The plaintiff, Mr Colin Keys, was a police officer associated with that group
action. He brought proceedings claiming negligence in his treatment by the
defendant’s Occupational Health Unit from October 1999 to April 2002, when he
retired on medical grounds. However, in that suit he has consented to judgment in
favour of the defendant, with no order as to costs.
[3] This is a separate claim that started with a writ issued on 6 November 2013
and proceeded sedately with the plaintiff enjoying the service of solicitors in some
periods (as before me) while representing himself at other stages. The thrust of this
case is that he was exposed by the defendant to a traumatic incident in November
1983 leading to chronic suffering and his medical retirement on 23 April 2002. He
contends that he still suffers four decades later.
[4] Negligence was conceded in carefully framed terms. Para 1 of the defence
dated 13 May 2021 puts it this way:
“…the defendant admits, subject to paragraph four
below, that police officers of the Royal Ulster
Constabulary were negligent in and about the conduct of
a police operation in relation to an armed robbery at
Pomeroy Post Office on about 28 November 1983 and
that, in consequence, the plaintiff suffered psychiatric
injury."
While para 2 of the Defence says that “the nature and extent of that psychiatric
injury is not admitted”, the expert tendered by the defendant (Professor Fahy)
accepted a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”) for the plaintiff. I
will proceed on the basis that the undisputed psychiatric injury sustained by the
plaintiff is PTSD. The case turns on the extent of the plaintiff’s condition by reason
of the trigger event in November 1983 and the extent of the defendant’s
responsibility for the losses it occasioned. The defendant denies the plaintiff
sustained any financial loss.
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