A council official has been awarded £200,000 damages for psychiatric problems which he claims were caused by his bullying boss.

Roderick McLeod, 42, blamed Susan Claydon, his line manager at Test Valley Borough Council in Andover, Hampshire, for the stress which led to his mental breakdown.

Kirsty Boyd, representing the former senior housing benefits officer, told Mr Justice Brian Smedley that her client was "subjected to abuse, bullying and harassment" by his manager and was now a hospital patient.

Chronic depression

She said Mr McLeod, who previously worked for several other councils, had a nervous breakdown within a year of joining Test Valley in March 1993, and had suffered from chronic depression for five-and-half years.

He said his psychiatric condition was caused by Mrs Claydon's attempts to have him dismissed or demoted.

Ms Boyd said Mr McLeod had accepted £200,000 in full and final settlement from the council, which had not admitted any liability.

Alan Jeffreys QC, representing the council, said the allegations of bullying and harassment "had never been accepted" by Test Valley and would have been disputed if the case had gone to full trial.

Prior problems

He said Mr McLeod had suffered from psychiatric problems before joining Test Valley, but his senior managers did not know of this.

The judge said both sides in the dispute faced substantial litigation risks and the agreed settlement was in all their interests.

He said the money, less £25,000 in benefits already paid to Mr McLeod, would be paid into the Court of Protection where it would be used to provide for his needs.

A spokesman for Test Valley said the settlement reached was substantially less than the amount claimed, and was recommended by the council's insurers.

"Prior to joining Test Valley Borough, Mr McLeod had suffered a psychological illness whilst in the employment of another local authority and this may have made him more vulnerable to stress," he said.

The spokesman added an industrial tribunal had previously upheld that the council had acted properly in retiring Mr McLeod on health grounds.

Mr McLeod, who now lives in south London, would not comment after the hearing.

His huge settlement comes the day after another council official won record damages for work-related stress.

Randy Ingram, 41, from Evesham, Worcestershire, was awarded £203,432 in an out of court settlement for stress caused by his work on a gypsy site.