The claimant said that the police in deciding not to prosecute the person she said had abused her as a child, had breached a duty of care to her. A prosecution would have allowed her to come to terms with her distress.
Held: The defendant’s appeal against a refusal of a strike out of the claim succeeded. Novel categories of negligence should be extended only incrementally, and it must also therefore be particularly difficult to establish a duty of care which was close to a situation in which a duty of care had already been found not to exist. Nor in this case had the claimant brought sufficient proof that a prosecution would have the effect she predicted.
Citations:
Times 04-Jan-2008, [2007] EWCA Civ 1361
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire HL 28-Apr-1987
No General ty of Care Owed by Police
The mother of a victim of the Yorkshire Ripper claimed in negligence against the police alleging that they had failed to satisfy their duty to exercise all reasonable care and skill to apprehend the perpetrator of the murders and to protect members . .
Cited – Elguzouli-Daf v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and Another CA 16-Nov-1994
The Court upheld decisions striking out actions for negligence brought by claimants who had been arrested and held in custody during criminal investigations which were later discontinued. The Crown Prosecution Service owes no general duty of care to . .
Cited – Brooks v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and others HL 21-Apr-2005
The claimant was with Stephen Lawrence when they were both attacked and Mr Lawrence killed. He claimed damages for the negligent way the police had dealt with his case, and particularly said that they had failed to assess him as a victim of crime, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Negligence, Police
Updated: 12 July 2022; Ref: scu.263412