Judge's link to BA halts DVT victims' High Court action

A High Court test case by survivors of deep vein thrombosis and the relatives of dead victims was halted yesterday because the judge owned shares in British Airways.

Fifty-five sufferers of "economy class syndrome" and their families are claiming compensation from 27 airlines, including BA, over what they say was a breach of duty of care.

The court was half way through a three-day hearing when Mr Justice Nelson adjourned the case. While he insisted that the situation was "absolutely incapable" of affecting his decision, he felt all the parties involved had to consider whether he should stand down.

The judge said that he had not realised the potential conflict of interest until he saw a newspaper article about BA's interim profits on Tuesday, the first day of the case. "It then occurred to me, regrettably for the first time since taking on this case, that I had some shares in BA. In the evening I checked and found that I had 1,450 BA shares. This morning I sold the whole of my shareholding.

"The sensitivity of the holding of such shares – even a small number – is in my view such that the parties must be given the opportunity to consider whether I should continue." Any application for the judge to stand down – though none has been made yet – will be heard on Friday next week, before the case resumes on 18 November.

The judge added: "I very much regret not appreciating this matter beforehand. It plainly should have been raised earlier rather than the beginning of the second day."

Lawyers for the claimants said that any delay was a matter of disappointment but in view of these developments they would consult their clients as to how to proceed with the trial.

The hearing was to decide on the contested preliminary point of whether DVT would be covered by the 1929 Warsaw Convention, which allows airline passengers to claim compensation after accidents.

The claimants say hundreds more DVT victims are awaiting the judgment. They argue that the airlines knew of the increased risk on long-haul flights of deep vein thrombosis, which can lead to fatal blood clots, but nevertheless continued to pack in their passengers. They must first prove their case against more than 20 international airlines, which dispute the link between long-haul air travel and DVT.

The victims' lawyers say the Warsaw Convention was drafted "in the age of the bi-plane" and could never have been intended to be used to escape liability in circumstances such as these.

Those seeking compensation include Lyn Walcott, of Hadleigh, Essex, whose "fit and healthy" husband, Nigel, died aged 40 on 5 October 2000 after a flight from Barbados on British Airways. He had felt unwell on the flight and was in such pain upon landing that his wife took him to hospital. He collapsed and died while she was parking the car.

They also include Timothy Stuart, of Llanmartin, Gwent, whose fiancée, Emma Christoffersen, died in September 2000 aged 28 after developing a blood clot on a Qantas flight from Australia to London. Her case was one of the first to attract worldwide attention to the risks of DVT.

A BA spokesman has said that the company will resist claims against it in the context of advice given by the Government and the World Health Organisation that no specific link between flying and DVT had been established.