May 15th - Cape Town High Court
Aggression at work 'normal' says psychotic woman's lawyer

Judgement has been reserved in a quadriplegic man's claim for R18.93 million in damages from the ministry for safety and security, which he has accused of negligence for issuing a firearm licence to the woman who shot him, leaving him paralysed.

Ian Hamilton, 31, said that from mid-1992, Erna Lochiel McArdell was a "paranoid psychotic" with a personality disorder. She gained the firearm licence in 1993. The following year, she shot Hamilton in an argument over a parking bay.

In closing yesterday, Hamilton's counsel, Michael Donen, argued that McArdell was a "walking time bomb liable to explode" when her paranoid delusion set in.

"She was more dangerous than an ordinary violent criminal because she lacked mental capacity," he said.

Counsel for the ministry, Fef le Roux, argued that the only evidence of psychotic behaviour was an episode at Stellenbosch Hospital in which McArdell used her fists to break windows while she screamed and charged at staff.

Le Roux said McArdell had consumed alcohol on the day of the Stellenbosch incident and that her mental condition alone could not have caused such an outburst.

Justice Theo Jooste said McArdell's attitude as well as the alcohol and drugs she consumed made "an explosive cocktail".

Le Roux said McArdell's work performance had not been criticised. Referring to testimony by her employers about aggressive behaviour at work, he said this was normal.

"I would hate to think that there wasn't a person in this court who lost his temper at work or had some outburst," he said.

But Judge Jooste said he had not heard of another case in which an employee had thrown her boss off a chair.

Ian Hamilton's legal costs are underwritten by Legal Protection Services.