Teacher compensated £350,000 for OCD set up ‘messy play’ firm

A TEACHER who developed OCD after falling from a horse won a £350,000 payout, but could lose it after it emerged she had launched her own “messy play” business.

Anna Tuson, 33, broke her arm when she took a tumble at the Angel Riding Centre, in Selby, North Yorks, in August 2010.

Psychiatrists attributed the subsequent period, when her arm was in plaster and she was unable to properly clean her house or wash very easily, as the trigger for the onset of OCD.

Mrs Tuson told a court that it was so debilitating she had to quit her career and “the idea of taking any form of work” was impossible.

She later sued Debbie Murphy, the owner of the stables, claiming more than £1million in damages for loss of earnings due to her condition but settled her claim for £352,060 in 2015.

However, Ms Murphy’s legal team discovered that in 2013 Mrs Tuson had obtained a franchise in a playgroup organisation and ran Creation Station, which specialised in messy play.

Brian Mccluggage, for Ms Murphy, argued at Oxford County Court that his client should not have to pay her legal costs when Mrs Tuson had misrepresented her abilities.

Judge Charles Harris QC ruled in Ms Murphy’s favour. But Mrs Tuson appealed, arguing that Ms Murphy should be paying her costs.

The case was transferred to the Court of Appeal where Mr Mccluggage yesterday said: “There is a quantum leap in terms of the nature of a case between an OCD sufferer so severely disabled that she is unable to work, and an OCD sufferer starting a business involving messy play.”

Oliver Moore, for Mrs Tuson, argued that she had only run the playgroup for a few hours a week and did not consider it a business but “goal-based therapy” to try to ease her condition.

The court will give its decision at a later date.