An off duty police officer had borrowed a marked police van without permission to help his girlfriend move house. The claimant appeared to be rummaging through his girlfriend’s belongings. The claimant refused to obey officer who was employed by the respondent. He was assaulted, and placed in the rear of a police van. He appealed dismissal of his claim against the Chief Constable.
Held: The officer had identified himself as a constable, and was using a police van: ‘when taking hold of Mr Weir, throwing him down the stairs, assaulting him and locking him in the police van saying he was taking him to the police station …PC Dudley was apparently acting as a constable, albeit one who was behaving very badly. It is clearly fair that Mr Weir should recover for the assault and the injuries caused and for the time he was forcibly confined in the van.’ The nature of an officer’s duties meant that the responsibility of a chief constable would be wider than might apply for other employments. Though the officer had acted unlawfully, his behaviour was not so far outside the nature of his work, and the Chief Constable had vicarious liability.
Judges:
Tuckey, Latham, LJJ, Sir Denis Henry
Citations:
Times 04-Feb-2003, [2003] ICR 708
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Hutchinson v Metropolitan Police Commissioner and Another QBD 27-Jul-2005
The claimant sought damages for assault by a probationary constable. The constable had been called to a drunken party for Sainsbury’s employees.
Held: The claimant had been assaulted. Miss Morgan had introduced herself as a police officer, had . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Vicarious Liability, Police
Updated: 10 June 2022; Ref: scu.178852