Harassment victim awarded £10,000 for injured feelings
26th Mar 2008
A man who was subjected to harassment and racist abuse has been awarded £10,000 for the injury to his feelings.
The perpetrator of the abuse had also deliberately collided with the man’s car causing him to develop a generalised state of anxiety. The trial judge found that the perpetrator’s course of conduct amounted to harassment and ordered that he should pay compensation. The level of damages was left to be decided at a later hearing.
At that second hearing the judge observed that the perpetrator’s action in harassing witnesses in defiance of an injunction and fighting every issue in the case meant that the victim had constantly feared for the safety of his family. Those fears had not been allowed to subside.
She ordered that the victim should be awarded £12,500 for the psychiatric harm suffered and £10,000 for his injured feelings.
The Court of Appeal later upheld the awards. It was held that although the victim had a vulnerable personality, he had in the past been able to cope with the general tribulations of life. That all changed when he was subjected to the harassment, particularly the collision incident with his vehicle.