TRANSPORT ARENDONK V CHIEF CONSTABLE OF ESSEX
On 23 January Mrs Justice Elizabeth Laing handed down an important police liability judgement in the High Court in London. The Claimant, a Belgian haulage company, was represented by RICHARD BARRACLOUGH QC of 6 Pump Court leading road transport/haulage specialist barrister SIMON CLARKE and instructed by Smith Bowyer Clarke Road Transport Lawyers. The claimant had been contracted to transport a valuable cargo of designer sports material from Belgium to the United Kingdom. Having arrived in the UK and driven to Essex the driver was arrested for a drink drive offence. The pleaded case was that the officers who arrested him refused to permit him to contact the operator so that the load might be safeguarded. It was left over night in a remote area known to be at risk from specialist thieves. The Chief Constable applied to strike the claim out. The application was refused in the court below. The Chief Constable appealed to Laing J who dismissed the appeal. Her judgement provides a detailed review of the legal principle and in particular DORSET YACHT v HOME OFFICE, ALEXANDROU v OXFORD, MICHAEL v CHIEF CONSTABLE of SOUTH WALES, ROBINSON v CHIEF CONSTABLE OF WEST YORKSHIRE, CN v POOLE BC and the academic paper by TOFARIS and STEEL “Negligence Liability for Omissions and the Police”.
Case Details
Case Name: TRANSPORT ARENDONK V CHIEF CONSTABLE OF ESSEXCase Date: January 2020
Case Type (info): High Court