High Court to rule on potentially landmark case after death of Bristol Uni student
A judge ruled that the University of Bristol discriminated against suicidal student
A potentially landmark legal case starts today, and runs for the next three days, in the High Court following the death of student from the University of Bristol five years ago.
The parents of Natasha Abrahart want to build on a ruling last year made by a judge at the Bristol County Court - which found she struggled with social anxiety whilst she was studying there, back in 2018.
Natasha, who was 20 years old and from Nottingham, was found unresponsive on the day she was due to give a presentation in a more than 300-seat lecture theatre.
She was known to have mental health problems and so her parents Bob and Maggie sued the university arguing it did not do enough to help her.
In May last year, a judge agreed, ordering the university to pay Natasha's family £50,000 in damages.
The court heard that in the months before Ms Abrahart's death, there was a "significant deterioration in her mental health".
On the day of the ruling, a spokesperson from the University of Bristol said: "Like all universities, schools and colleges, we are deeply concerned by the increase of mental health issues amongst our young people nationally.
"We do our very best to support any student who is struggling with their mental health and have a wide range of services available."
Mr Abrahart, a retired university lecturer, at the time of the ruling, said: "Today, 1,481 days after Natasha took her own life on the day of an assessment she simply couldn't do, after years of protestations from the university that it did all it could to support her, after having battled our way through an inquest and a civil trial, we finally have the truth: the University of Bristol broke the law and exposed our daughter to months of wholly unnecessary psychological trauma, as she watched her grades plummet, and her hopes for the future crumble before her eyes."
Since this ruling, Bristol Uni was given the permission to appeal to the High Court in March 2023 - over the decision by the judge that the institution had breached the Equality Act.
Natasha's dad was then given permission by the High Court to appeal against the dinging that the Uni didn't owe his daughter a 'duty of care in negligence'.
You can read more on this case, and the route of this appeal so far, here, as both of the above issues will be considered by the judge today, tomorrow and Wednesday (December 11th, 12th, 13th).
The university tell us they're looking for 'absolute clarity' for the Higher Education sector around how the Equality Act is applied.
A University of Bristol spokesperson said: “We would like to make it clear that this appeal is not against the Abrahart family, nor are we disputing the specific circumstances of Natasha's death. We remain deeply sorry for their loss, and we are not contesting the damages awarded by the judge.
“In appealing, we are seeking absolute clarity for the higher education sector around the application of the Equality Act when staff do not know a student has a disability, or when it has yet to be diagnosed.
“We hope it will also enable us to provide transparency to students and their families about how we support them and to give all university staff across the country the confidence to do that properly.
“In Natasha's case, academic and administrative staff assisted Natasha with a referral to both the NHS and our Disability Services, as well as suggesting alternative options for her academic assessment to alleviate the anxiety she faced about presenting her laboratory findings to her peers.
“However the judgement suggests they should have gone further than this, although Natasha's mental health difficulties had not been diagnosed. Understandably, this has caused considerable anxiety as it puts a major additional burden on staff who are primarily educators, not healthcare professionals. We are also concerned that this will also lead to a reluctance on the part of staff to undertake any roles that involve providing pastoral support to students.
“Higher education staff across the country share our concern about the wider impact this judgement could have. Collectively, we are deeply concerned by the increase of mental health issues amongst our young people nationally and are determined to do our very best to support any student who is struggling with their mental health through the provision of a wide range of services. At the same time, it is important that students and their families are clear on what universities can and cannot do, and that students receive appropriate specialist care under the NHS should they need it.”
Read more: Natasha Abrahart: University of Bristol discriminated against suicidal student, judge rules