The claimants were two police officers. They arrested a young man, but the prosecution was thrown out as an abuse of process because of the way the claimant police force and CPS had conducted matters. The defendants had ‘been deprived by the prosecuting authority of the opportunity to call potential witnesses and, in addition the whole background of events leading up to the arrest of these defendants leads me to the conclusion that the court’s processes may have been manipulated.’ In essence they had misdescribed the basis in law of the arrest. The officers now claimed that their subsequent suspensions had been in bad faith.
Held: The claim failed. Though the process was open to criticism, the claimants had not established that the prosecution of the person arrested had been mishandled so as to protect him as a witness in other proceedings.
Judges:
Collins J
Citations:
[2005] EWHC 975 (Admin)
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Police
Updated: 30 June 2022; Ref: scu.225331