Shields v Merseyside Police: CA 17 Nov 2010

The claimant appealed against rejection of her claim for assault and false imprisonment. The officer arresting her wrongly believed that she had already been arrested, and it was said that he could not have gone through the steps necessary for an arrest.
Held: Under the new section 24, ‘a summary arrest by a police officer will be lawful if (a) the person arrested is about to commit, is committing or has committed an offence or (b) the police officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting this to be so, provided in every case that the arresting officer has reasonable grounds for believing that the arrest is necessary for any of the reasons identified in s24(5).’

Judges:

Thomas, Moses, Toulson LLJ

Citations:

[2010] EWCA Civ 1281

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 24, Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 110

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedHolgate-Mohammed v Duke HL 1984
A police officer had purported to arrest the plaintiff under the 1967 Act, suspecting her of theft. After interview she was released several hours later without charge. She sought damages alleging wrongful arrest. The judge had found that he had . .
CitedChapman v Director of Public Prosecutions CA 1989
The section required a constable to have reasonable grounds for suspecting that an arrestable offence had been committed before he could arrest without warrant.
Held: Bingham LJ said: ‘It is not of course to be expected that a police constable . .

Cited by:

CitedHayes v Merseyside Police CA 29-Jul-2011
The claimant had been arrested after a complaint of harassment. The officer then contacted the complainant who then withdrew his complaint. The officer went to visit the complainant to discuss it further. On his return the claimant was released from . .
CitedFitzpatrick and Others v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis QBD 11-Jan-2012
The claimants, two solicitors and their employer firm sought damages alleging trespass and malicious procurement by police officers in obtaining and executing search warrants against the firm in 2007 when they were investigating suspected offences . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Updated: 26 August 2022; Ref: scu.426027