"Police sued over dead body stress" - your views on this?

Question

I don't understand the world anymore - a coronor is suing a police force for trauma caused by having to deal with too many dead bodies:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/6951965.stm

My thoughts on this:
1 - You're a coroner - dealing with dead bodies is a big part of your job by definition. Deal with it or quit the job
2 - The police didn't kill these people so why should they be held responsible?

Or can anyone put this story to me another way so that it makes sense?

Answer 1

Just to put something straight, it's not the coroner who's suing for compensation, it's a coroner's officer. He's claiming compensation, saying he received insufficient support.

I agree with you, looks like part of the current compensation culture, "quick, who can I sue to make some money". Mind you, we only see what the press have published, and that will be the part that they feel looks interesting, it'd be more useful to know the whole story.

Something like that happened here a while ago. The headlines were something like "Tragedy as ship blazes!" It turned out to be a minor welding fire when some ropes caught fire on the dredger, put out with a couple of buckets of water. The only tragedy was that they had to buy some new rope and some paint.

Answer 2

Sadly we are moving into an American style claim and compensation society Where seedy lawyers make a fast buck out of us the Public, the tax payer.
Its not really that new though. Charles Dickens wrote a novel about the Chancery courts in England some of the cases went on for a half century or more. Some people make more out of taxes than the government and that's where the great tax reforms should be. By the way the people who benefit big style from taxes are strangely right wing in their politics.

Answer 3

The article states, "He is claiming compensation, saying he received insufficient support."

I don't think the coroner is complaining about the fact that he has to deal with dead bodies as part of his job description. I would venture to guess that he knew he'd be doing that when he signed on for the job.

Rather, it sounds like when the crash happened, he was forced to deal with the bodies all on his own. It doesn't state that specifically in the article, but that's how it kind of reads. Even so, I'm not sure what the police force could have done about this. Coroner is a county-govt. medical position, not law-enforcement, even though they work closely with police to solve crimes and the like. (Perhaps it's different in the UK?)

Otherwise, I agree with your 2 points.

Answer 4

Yes, the job title is correct but you are wrong to say the police did not kill the people, granted they did not kill all the people being sent to the coroner and there is stress overload probably having to do with the police involvement of performing their job so vigorously and the coroner has to look at those dead bodies to find a reason for death, filling out forms and appearing in court cases. Coroners wear out to. I think both sides can talk about how they view each others jobs as serving the good record keeping rather than serving the good health of and for their own lives.

Answer 5

The office is suing due to lack of support, meaning that they possibly requested extra assistance b/c of the overload on him,or had requested to have some of the bodies taken elsewhere to be dealt with. Either way he was not given relief, 11 bodies, one coroner. The issue with bodies is there is a specific time frame to which the coroner has to work with the bodies and that is something that would be hard to do with one person. It is undue stress in this case.

Answer 6

This is just another example of the crazy world
we live in.
In his work as a coronor, he must have known
there would be days where such tragedies
happen and it would be work overload.
If he wins this case, it will open the door to more professionals trying it on.
Doctors and nurses in A/E for example.
Not that I think they would, but where will it end.
No one joins a profession blindly.

Answer 7

Just another example of the insurance culture which is crippling this country.

Q: "Have you been injured in an accident at work?"

A: "I'm a big fat unfit cow, who slipped on the floor wearing my high heels and I claimed £5000 from my employers!"

A: "I was doing a job at work and my employer gave me the wrong ladder, I had a fall and i recieved £11000 compensation"

Examples of the stupid people (or perhaps not so stupid) featured in adverts for insurance claims companies.

At the end of the day, this money being paid out to insurance claimants has to be recovered by the insurance companies, they can only recover this money from one place and that is from the premiums that you and I make.

Ammusing though some of these claims may be, the underlying rammifications are costly to us all.

This coroner is obviously just jumping on the insurance claim bandwagon

Answer 8

Yes, plenty - worked in Emergency rooms and ICU as an R.N. What went through my head depended on the circumstances, so it varied from shock, defeat, despair to acceptance and relief. The worst experience was my father's death. That image will be forever imprinted in my mind - extreme sadness. What a curious question!

Answer 9

Wow, that is odd. I never understand people who sue the police or hospitals and that - surely we all pay taxes? I guess he expected counsillers or something. Did you see in the papers recently about the man who had his wheelie bin stolen? He was offered grief councelling to get over his loss! That is true, just really stupid.

Answer 10

If he didn't want to deal with dead bodies then he should have gotten into a different profession.
No way will he win his case or if he does then it really will prove that the law is an *ss.