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Date Published: 20/01/2026

Cruise HR boss sues P&O for £9.7m after ship toilet fall

Wheelchair claim challenged by video of claimant walking freely at home

A former HR manager at P&O Cruises is seeking £9.7 million in damages from the company's parent, Carnival Plc, after slipping in a toilet on the MV Britannia cruise ship. The incident occurred in October 2019 while the vessel was docked in Cadiz, during a management meeting. Kerry Middleton, 52, fractured the spinous process of a neck bone, causing acute pain that doctors expected to resolve within six months.

She was later diagnosed with functional neurological disorder (FND), a condition affecting brain signals to the body and linked to symptoms including limb weakness, hemiplegia (paralysis affecting one side of the body), seizures, tremors, fatigue, and blackouts. Her barrister, Eliot Woolf KC, told the High Court: "The severity of her FND symptoms have progressed such that she is now primarily a wheelchair user when mobilising." Experts predict limited improvement from treatment, preventing her return to work. Liability for the fall is admitted, but Carnival contests the claim's scale.

Carnival's barrister, James Todd KC, argued her FND - which can be triggered by severe stress rather than physical injury alone - stemmed not from the neck fracture but from the distress of receiving a poor "below standard" performance rating on her work review around that time. Secret surveillance footage, filmed through Ms Middleton's kitchen window on New Year's Eve 2024, shows her moving without apparent disability. "We see her moving freely. She is cheerful and happy with her family," Mr Todd said. "Towards the end of the clip, we see her walking around the kitchen island, doing so freely, without any sign of disability."

The video, captured four months before Ms Middleton reported to a doctor that she could stand but not walk, raises questions over her symptoms' severity. An expert noted a tendency to "catastrophise and play up her symptoms," though not dishonestly. Ms Middleton's team described the footage as an "ambush," citing privacy invasion via zoom lens from outside her property.

Judge Tim Moloney approved its use as evidence last week. The trial, due later this month, has been postponed for expert analysis, with a new date to be set.

Image: wikicommons

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