The claimant sought damages after being severely injured when knocked from his cycle by police officers in a car attending an emergency, and driving over the speed limit.
Held: The claim succeeded, and there had been no contributory negligence by the claimant.
McKenna J said: ‘the police car was quite simply travelling far too fast in poor lighting conditions and visibility and the driver simply failed to keep a proper lookout. Both PC Reilly and PC Burbeck plainly failed to observe Mr Einsman who was cycling with his lights on in the opposite direction, despite passing him shortly before entering the roundabout. It is highly likely that they equally simply failed to see the Claimant ahead of them. PC Reilly was intent on getting to the incident at Hackney as quickly as possible and his focus as he indicated in the course of his evidence was as to whether he retained a right of way to enable him to maintain his speed. The overwhelming likelihood is that there was simply too much to observe in the run up to the junction and as with Mr Einsman, PC Reilly and indeed PC Burbeck simply failed to see the Claimant until he was virtually on top of him.’
McKenna J
[2014] EWHC 977 (QB)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Marshall v Osmond CA 1983
The plaintiff was passenger in a stolen car seeking to escape the police as they chased. The car was stopped, the plaintiff got out of the car, and was hit by a police car. He sought damages.
Held: His appeal against dismissal of his claim was . .
Cited – Keyse v Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis, Scutts CA 18-May-2001
The court considered liability where a police car on emergency duty hit Mr Scutts causing very serious injuries. The officer appealed against a finding of liability saying that the judge had declared irrelevant the fact he was on an emergency . .
Cited – Sam v Atkins CA 9-Nov-2005
May LJ said: ‘Caparo and Murphy v Brentford were both cases concerning economic loss, not physical damage, but the principle is the same for each. The question is whether the relationship between the claimant and the defendant is such that it . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Personal Injury, Negligence
Updated: 12 January 2022; Ref: scu.523598