A FORMER prison officer from Bridgwater has been awarded a six-figure pay out in damages for stress he suffered after listening to sex offenders’ accounts of their crimes.
Steven Heaven, 44, said his work in “therapeutic community” involved hearing criminals describe their sex crimes.
He had no experience as a clinician or qualifications as a therapist but was required to listen to descriptions of prisoners’ crimes, sometimes in graphic detail – to the point he was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.
His case was settled for an undisclosed sum following a three-year legal battle after the prison would not accept that his illness had been caused by his working conditions.
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