Traumatised police officer gets pounds 75,000

A POLICE sergeant who suffered psychiatric illness after witnessing the crash of a force minibus in which his fiancee was a passenger, was yesterday awarded pounds 75,000 agreed damages in settlement of his claim.

Graeme Tyson, 36, of Badby, Northamptonshire, launched a legal action against the Metropolitan Police following the accident in central London in March 1994.

At a brief hearing, before Mr Justice Ian Kennedy at the High Court in London, his counsel, John Reddihough, said that the parties had "reached a compromise" in the case.

Sgt Tyson was on duty in Whitehall when he saw a police minibus overturn after it was involved in a collision with a double-decker bus. His fiancee, now his wife, was one of two officers thrown out of the rear doors of the vehicle.

As well as the damages sum, he also receives his legal costs as part of the settlement.