DAMAGES FOR MENTAL DISTRESS – AGAIN

Johnson v Gore Wood & Co ([2001] 2 WLR 72)

In our May 2000 issue we discussed the case of Farley v Skinner [2000] PNLR 441 in which the Court of Appeal considered the general rule that a contract breaker is not liable for vexation, stress, disappointment or loss of pleasure caused by the breach, no matter how predictable a consequence those phenomena may be. The House of Lords has recently returned to the issue of damages for mental distress in Johnson v Gore Wood & Co [2001] 2 WLR 72, in which their Lordships, Lord Cooke dissenting, affirmed the general rule that damages are not recoverable for mental distress suffered as a consequence of a breach of contract.