Debriefing of serial killer caused trauma

A GOVERNMENT official who was fired after developing post traumatic stress as a result of debriefing a serial killer police informant has won a claim for unfair dismissal.

Wendy Lewis, a legal adviser, debriefed the terrorist – described as “dangerous and violent” – in an assigment lasting more than three years instead of the predicted six months and involving nearly 1,000 interviews.

Ms Lewis worked for the Public Defender Service, part of the Legal Aid Agency, as an accredited police station representative.

Between 2010 and 2013, Ms Lewis was assigned to debrief a Special Branch informer who had been involved in terrorism offences, including murder. The man, questioned on more than 500 serious offences, was identified during the hearing only as “client X”.

Ms Lewis told a employment tribunal in Cardiff that she developed psychiatric symptoms and was subsequently diagnosed with PTSD. After returning to her Pontypridd office in 2013, she was advised to attend counselling and was placed on sick leave.

After two years of uncertainty, an occupational health report dated August 2015 confirmed she was not fit to return to work, and the hearing was told Ms Lewis wished to be considered for early retirement due to ill health.

Emails indicated she was “agoraphobic, had difficulty being in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people, cannot travel north by train as she associates this with work with client X, only socialises with family and one or two very close friends, suffers from panic attacks and insomnia and has traumatic flashbacks”.

The tribunal was told: “The respondent’s failure to allow the claimant to work from home instead of dismissing her was a failure to make a reasonable adjustment.” Ms Lewis’s compensation will be decided at a later date.