A man who claims he was turned into a killer by the trauma that he suffered in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash began an unprecedented claim for £300,000 in compensation yesterday.

Kerrie Francis Gray says he had a “normal and uneventful life” and always avoided confrontation before the horrific crash that saw him develop a “significant personality change”, complete with angry outbursts.

After two years of depression, frequent absences from work and bouts of anxiety and nervousness, Gray, 47, stabbed a pedestrian to death with a kitchen knife in August 2001 when his victim drunkenly hammered on his car window.

Opening Gray’s claim for compensation in the High Court, London, Anthony Scrivener, QC said: “The homicide would not have happened but for the original accident. The conviction of manslaughter is not the cause of the injury but was a consequence of the accident and of the defendent’s negligence.”

He contended that, as a result of his pyschiatric problems since the train crash, Gray could not cope with the situation that resulted in the killing and was therefore “driven to react in the way he did”.

He said it resulted from the pre-existing condition which “predisposed him to violence and uncontrollable rage” and a “reduction in responsibility”.

Gray is indefinitely detained in Runwell Hospital, Wickford, Essex, under the Mental Health Act until the Home Secretary grants a release. He pleaded guilty in March 2003 to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, admitting killing Fred Boultwood, 42, a welder who had stumbled drunkenly into the path of Gray’s car before banging on his window.

Gray jumped out and punched and kicked his victim before driving to a friend’s house for a kitchen knife and stabbing Mr Boultwood seven times. Gray, formerly of Tilbury, Essex, is seeking damages for injury and loss which resulted from the October 1999 rail accident from train operators Thames Trains Ltd and Network Rail Infrastructure Limited (formerly Railtrack Plc).

Mr Scrivener said Gray was not seeking compensation for his conviction, nor was he seeking general damages in relation to his arrest and incarceration.

However, he said he was entitled to damages for “loss caused by the defendent’s admitted negligence”, including loss for past and future earnings, which will be affected by his period of detention.

The two rail companies insist that Gray is not entitled to any compensation for lost earnings since the manslaughter. They cite the historic legal maxim, ex turpi causa, which states that criminals must never benefit from their illegal behaviour.

Opening the case in front of Mr Justice Flaux, Mr Scrivener told how, before the crash, Gray lived a “normal and uneventful life” and had been in a stable and happy relationship since 1997.

He was in continuous employment, including a post as as a promotion events manager and telemarketer, with no history of violence. He suffered only minor physical injuries in the accident but developed posttraumatic stress disorder, suffered flashbacks of the burning carriages and felt guilty because he had survived. He lost his interest in football and sex, and turned to the church for help.

Mr Scrivener said the medical evidence would show that Gray became “increasingly withdrawn, depressed and shunned physical contact”, and started having angry outbursts, resulting in a deteroriation of the relationship with his girlfriend. He had to travel to work on public transport, which he attempted, but as a result of his nervousness and anxiety, he was often incontinent.

Gray was often absent from work because of the trouble he had travelling and his mood swings.

The QC said that medical reports would show Gray’s state of mind resulting from personality changes since the accident, could lead him to states of “uncontrollable rage”.

The hearing continues.

Ladbroke Grove

8.10am Time crash happened at on October 5, 1999

31 People died; more than 400 people were injured in the two-train crash

88 The subsequent Cullen inquiry made 88 safety recommendations

£4m Amount that Network Rail was fined for safety failures that led to the accident

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