A CRIME scene investigator who had a stroke after dealing with around 50 murders a year is suing his police force for more than £100,000.
Paul Tebbutt, 68, worked for 37 years on forensic investigations after killings and suspicious deaths.
After becoming crime scene co-ordinator in 2012, he says he investigated 45 murders and 100 suspicious deaths each year.
In 2017, he estimates he dealt with 100 to 200 deaths and worked 45 hours a week.
The next year he attended the highest number of murders in the West Midlands, and he worked alone after his partner quit and was not replaced.
That same year he appeared on the BBC show The Real CSI and spoke about how the nature of his work affected him.
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The job would expose him to “cumulative levels of harmful occupational stress”, according to documents filed by his lawyers at London’s High Court.
He claims the harrowing nature of his work, coupled with an excessive workload, led to him suffering a stroke in 2023.
The claim acknowledges the nature of his work was inherently stressful, but he alleges West Midlands Police did not have a system to monitor how much pressure he was under.
Mr Tebbutt, from Coventry was unable to go back to work in a police station as it filled him with anxiety and fear and worked from home.
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He was later classed as permanently disabled, and medically retired in April 2024, the negligence claim states.
West Midlands Police said: “As this is an ongoing matter, it would be inappropriate to comment.”