Police and prison authorities had a duty of care to those in their custody, which included a duty to perform an assessment of the risk of the prisoner committing suicide, but did not have a general duty to take steps to prevent suicide in the absence of any reason to think that the prisoner might be at such a risk. There is a general duty of care to prisoners, and an increasing risk of suicide amongst those in custody, but not in either case to such a point where it could be presumed that active steps needed to be taken to prevent suicide in every case.
Judges:
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers MR, Gibson, Latham LJJ
Citations:
Times 05-Jun-2001, Gazette 14-Jun-2001, [2001] EWCA Civ 611, [2001] 3 WLR 736, [2002] QB 347, [2001] All ER (D) 07
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd CA 31-Mar-2006
The deceased had suffered a head injury whilst working for the defendant. In addition to severe physical consequences he suffered post-traumatic stress, became more and more depressed, and then committed suicide six years later. The claimant . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Negligence, Police
Updated: 23 May 2022; Ref: scu.135480
