Employers liable for suicide six years after injury at work

The employers of a man who killed himself years after suffering an injury at work are liable for his death, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

Thomas Corr, then aged 31, had almost all his right ear severed at the Luton IBC car factory while fixing a machine.

Six years later, in May 2002, he took his own life after suffering headaches, tinnitus and severe depression.

The High Court originally ruled IBC Vehicles was not responsible for his death, but that ruling has been overturned.

IBC Vehicles admitted liability for the workplace accident but denied that its responsibility extended to him taking his own life six years later.

But Lord Justice Sedley said all the evidence suggested there was no other cause for Corr's suicide other than the injury he suffered at work, and he was previously a "rational man".

"The suicide was proved to have been a function of the depression and so formed part of the damage for which IBC was liable," he said.