Guilford Borough Council v Smith: QBD 18 May 1993

An injunction had been obtained to enforce planning controls against the defendant gypsies, and the council now sought committal for breach.
Held: Committal was refused. Only a deliberate or wilful contempt attracted imprisonment and the failure to obey the injunction could not be so described because it was accepted that the gypsies had nowhere else to go. If he was wrong in that legal conclusion he would exercise his power not to impose a punitive order, not even a suspended sentence. Sedley J pointed out as an example, that one of the respondents was a seventy year old widow who had only her old age pension and occasional donations from her family on which to survive.

Judges:

Sedley J

Citations:

Times 18-May-1993

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedBroxbourne Borough Council v Robb and Others QBD 27-Jun-2011
The Council applied for the committal of the defendant for an alleged breach of a without notice injunction. Notice of the injunction had been placed at the site, requiring nobody to move caravans onto the land.
Held: The application . .
CitedBroxbourne Borough Council v Robb and Others QBD 27-Jun-2011
The Council applied for the committal of the defendant for an alleged breach of a without notice injunction. Notice of the injunction had been placed at the site, requiring nobody to move caravans onto the land.
Held: The application . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Planning, Litigation Practice

Updated: 21 October 2022; Ref: scu.441229