1) DSD and Another v The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Mr Justice Green |
| Judgment Date | 28 February 2014 |
| Neutral Citation | [2014] EWHC 436 (QB) |
| Docket Number | Case No: HQ10X03508 & HQ12X00388 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division |
| Date | 28 February 2014 |
[2014] EWHC 436 (QB)
Mr Justice Green
Case No: HQ10X03508 & HQ12X00388
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Phillippa Kaufmann QC (instructed by Birnberg Peirce & Partners) for the Claimants
Jeremy Johnson QC and Mark Thomas (instructed by Metropolitan Police Directorate of Legal Services) for the Defendant
Approved Judgment
Hearing dates: 25 th–29 th November 2013
I direct that pursuant to CPR PD 39A para 6.1 no official shorthand note shall be taken of this Judgment and that copies of this version as handed down may be treated as authentic.
| INDEX TO JUDGMENT | Paragraph(s) |
| A. INTRODUCTION | |
| 1–5 |
| 6–7 |
| 8–9 |
| 10–11 |
| 12–13 |
| 14 |
| B. FACTS | |
| 15–19 |
| 20–39 |
| 40 |
| 41–58 |
| 59–65 |
| 66–75 |
| 76–87 |
| 88–112 |
| 113 |
| 114–115 |
| 116–124 |
| 125–129 |
| 130–136 |
| 137 |
| C. THE LAW | |
| 138 |
| 139–210 |
| 142–145 |
| 146–149 |
| 150–153 |
| 154–160 |
| 161–169 |
| 170–176 |
| 177–180 |
| 181 |
| 182–185 |
| 186–190 |
| 191–194 |
| 195–199 |
| 200–203 |
| 204–210 |
| 211–225 |
| 226 |
| 227–241 |
| 229 |
| 230–232 |
| 233–236 |
| 237–240 |
| 241 |
| 242 |
| D. THE APPLICATION OF THE LAW TO THE CASES OF DSD AND NBV | |
| 243 |
| 244–284 |
| 247–260 |
| 261–267 |
| 268–273 |
| 274–280 |
| 281 |
| 282–284 |
| 285–298 |
| 299–313 |
| E. CONCLUSION | 314 |
| F. GLOSSARY OF TERMS | 315 |
A. INTRODUCTION
(1) The Claims
1. This case concerns a claim for declarations and damages brought by two victims of the now convicted "black cab rapist" — John Worboys — who over the course of 2002 – 2008 committed well in excess of 100 rapes and sexual assaults on women whom he was carrying in his cab.
2. Pursuant to Section 1 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, victims of sexual offences are entitled to anonymity during their lifetimes. In this judgment, I refer to the two Claimants as "DSD", and, "NBV". They seek a remedy for an alleged failure on the part of the Metropolitan Police Service ("MPS") to conduct an effective investigation into their respective allegations of serious sexual assault. The respective facts of the cases of DSD and NBV sit at opposite ends of the spectrum. DSD was one of Worboys' earlier victims in 2002; NBV one of his last in 2007. They represent test cases for other women whose facts sit elsewhere on the spectrum.
3. The claims are brought under Section 7 and 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (" HRA"). Under section 6 HRA it is unlawful for a public authority to "act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right". It is common ground that the Defendant in this case is a public authority. According to the HRA "Convention rights" includes the rights and fundamental freedoms set out in, inter alia, Articles 2–12 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It follows that it is unlawful for the Defendant to act in a way that is incompatible with Articles 3 and 8, the Articles in issue in the present case. Section 7 HRA empowers victims of violations to bring proceedings before the Courts and section 8 confers upon the Courts the power to grant appropriate relief, including damages. The real substance of this case concerns Article 3 of the Convention which provides:
"No-one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".
Article 8(1) of the Convention is very much of secondary importance and for reasons I give elsewhere does not go any further than Article 3 in a case such as the present. It concerns the right to respect for private and family life and provides as follows:
"1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
2. There should be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others".
4. Under the common law the police do not owe a duty of care in negligence in relation to the investigation of crime: See Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire [1989] AC 53 per Lord Keith at pp. 63A–64A and per Lord Templeman at p. 65C–E; Brooks v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2005] 1 WLR 1495; and Smith v Chief Constable of Sussex [2009] 1 AC 225.
5. The question in this particular case is whether the HRA imposes a duty and, if so, whether it is breached on the evidence before the Court. The Defendant argues that the HRA does not provide a remedy to victims of crimes committed by private parties where the core of the allegation is that the police failed properly to investigate. The Defendant accepts that a limited right does arise where in some way the police or the State bear some indirect responsibility for violence inflicted upon a victim, such as where a prisoner attacks another prisoner whilst both are in custody or where violence is perpetrated by a private person in a secure mental health unit run by the state. But the Defendant does not accept that in the absence of any direct or indirect police responsibility or complicity there can be any liability. The Claimant contends to the contrary that according to a line of clear authority from both the Strasbourg and English courts in some situations at least where the police bear no culpability for the actual violence perpetrated the police can nonetheless still be liable for a failure to investigate.
(2) The sexual assaults
6. Between 2002 and 2008, Worboys committed in excess of 105 rapes and sexual assaults upon women whom he was carrying late at night in the back of his black cab. Over these years he developed an ever more refined methodology for administering drugs and alcohol to these women with a view to incapacitating them so that he could then assault them. He was clinical and conniving. The effect upon these vulnerable women was profound. In the cases of DSD and NBV I received evidence about the trauma they experienced at the time and subsequently and have read the psychiatric reports upon them. I have...
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