Oil Worker Seeks £250k Compensation after being Kidnapped
An oil worker, who was kidnapped and held at gunpoint for seven days, is seeking £250,000 in compensation.
Gordon Gray from Perthshire was employed as an offshore installation manager for oil company Dolphin Drilling, when the incident happened in March 2007. He was sent to an oil rig in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, when the incident happened.
Whilst he was on the rig, a gang armed with guns and machetes boarded and kidnapped Mr Gray. He spent seven days in fear for his life, before he was handed over to Nigerian government officials. It is unclear whether a ransom was paid by his employers or not.
Now, the Scotsman reports that he is seeking compensation for his ordeal from his former employers. Mr Gray suffered minor physical injuries from the incident, caused by beatings from his captors. However, the episode has left him severely traumatised.
His team are seeking £250,000 compensation for Mr Gray, claiming that the company failed to take reasonable steps to protect his safety and stop him being kidnapped. Less than a year before Mr Gray’s kidnap, eight foreign workers (including six Britons) were kidnapped from the same oil rig, and held captive for two days.
The case looks set to be decided in court later this year.
