The applicant sought review of the decision of the respondent not to initiate a prosecution in respect of a death in Spain. The deceased had been left drunk and unconscious in a car in the sun. There was a variance of opinion as to the exact cause of death, but it was said the proposed defendant should not have left him in a car in the hot sun.
Held: A decision not to prosecute is susceptible to judicial review, but that should be sparingly exercised. The duty of care assumed by bringing the deceased home in the car could not be extended to care for him afterwards. Application for review dismissed.
Mrs Justice Hallett
[2002] EWHC 1049 (Admin)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – C (A Minor) v Director of Public Prosecutions HL 17-Mar-1995
The House considered whether the long established rule of the criminal law presuming that a child did not have a guilty mind should be set aside.
Held: Doli incapax, the presumption of a child’s lack of mens rea, is still effective and good . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Coroners, Crime, Judicial Review
Updated: 03 December 2021; Ref: scu.171268