The claimants, mother and son, sought damages from the respondent after they had commenced care proceedings resulting in the son being taken into temporary care. The authority had wrongly suspected abuse. The boy was later found to suffer brittle bone disease.
Held: The court could not have made the interim order sought without first concluding that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the child was at risk. There was however no point at which the authority owed the applicants a common law duty of care of the sort alleged. The damage suffered by the mother was transient and non-justiciable, and there was no evidence of harm to the son. The appeal failed.
Judges:
Mummery LJ, Laws LJ, Wall LJ
Citations:
[2006] 1 WLR 917, Times 24-Jan-2006, [2006] EWCA Civ 1
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Sullivan v Moody 11-Oct-2001
(High Court of Australia) A medical practitioner who examines and reports on the condition of an individual may owe a duty to more than one person: ‘The duty for which the [appellant fathers] contend cannot be reconciled satisfactorily, either with . .
Cited – JD v East Berkshire Community Health NHS Trust and others HL 21-Apr-2005
Parents of children had falsely and negligently been accused of abusing their children. The children sought damages for negligence against the doctors or social workers who had made the statements supporting the actions taken. The House was asked if . .
Cited – Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd and Others HL 20-Jun-2002
The claimants suffered mesothelioma after contact with asbestos while at work. Their employers pointed to several employments which might have given rise to the condition, saying it could not be clear which particular employment gave rise to the . .
Cited – Re M (A Minor) (Care Orders: Threshold Conditions) HL 7-Jun-1994
The father had been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of the child’s mother. Application was made for the child to be made subject to a care order. The father appealed refusal of an order.
Held: When an application was made on the . .
Cited – Kent County Council v G and others HL 24-Nov-2005
A residential assessment order had been made under the 1989 Act in care proceedings. When the centre recommended a second extension of the assessment, the council refused, saying that the true purpose was not the assessment of the child but the . .
Cited – Attorney General v British Broadcasting Council HL 1981
The House had to consider whether a local valuation court was a court for the purposes of the powers of the High Court relating to contempt.
Held: A body, which has a judicial function, was a court, whereas if it has an administrative . .
Mentioned – Schering Chemicals Ltd v Falkman Ltd CA 1982
The Defendants’ professional skills were engaged to present the plaintiff company in a good light, and an injunction was granted to restrain them from doing the opposite. Sach LJ said: ‘even in the commercial field, ethics and good faith are not to . .
Cited – RK and MK v Oldham NHS Trust 2003
Apprehension, fear and discomfort are not generally compensatable. . .
Cited – JD, MAK and RK, RK and Another v East Berkshire Community Health, Dewsbury Health Care NHS Trust and Kirklees Metropolitan Council, Oldham NHS Trust and Dr Blumenthal CA 31-Jul-2003
Damages were sought by parents for psychological harm against health authorities for the wrongful diagnosis of differing forms of child abuse. They appealed dismissal of their awards on the grounds that it was not ‘fair just and reasonable’ to . .
Cited by:
Cited – A and Another v Somerset County Council QBD 11-Oct-2012
Appeal against refusal of order for pre-action disclosure. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Negligence, Local Government
Updated: 04 July 2022; Ref: scu.237709