Ancell v McDermott
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 29 January 1993 |
| Date | 29 January 1993 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
Court of Appeal
Before Lord Justice Nourse, Lord Justice Beldam and Sir John Megaw
Negligence - duty of care - traffic police - road hazard - no duty to warn
The police when carrying out traffic duties did not owe a duty of care to give warnings so as to protect road users from hazards of which the police officers had become aware but which were not created by them and for which they were not responsible.
The Court of Appeal so held in allowing appeals by the Chief Constables of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire from a judgment of Mr Justice Garland in January 1991 whereby he had refused to strike out an action against them by the plaintiffs, Lawrence Ancell, in his personal capacity and also as administrator of the estate of Dawn Ancell, and Katie Ancell, for disclosing no reasonable cause of action.
Mr Bernard Livesey, QC and Mr Jeremy Stuart-Smith for the chief constables; Mr Piers Ashworth, QC and Mr Jonathan Harvey for the plaintiffs; the first defendant, Michael McDermott, and the fourth defendants, Alpha Bulk Liquids Ltd, did not appear and were not represented.
LORD JUSTICE BELDAM said that the proceedings arose from a fatal traffic accident in the early hours of August 17, 1988. For the purposes of the appeal it had to be taken as having occurred in the circumstances set out.
Aluminium tubing fell from the fourth defendants' bulk carrier on to the road at a roundabout at Airport Way, Luton. The first defendant, driving his car...
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial
- Abdul Malek bin Idrus v Tan Jee Han
-
Chief Constable of Hertfordshire Police v. Van Colle et al.,
...24, refd to. [paras. 45, 72, 92, 106, 123]. Clough v. Bussan, [1990] 1 All E.R. 431 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 50]. Ancell v. McDermott, [1993] 4 All E.R. 355 (C.A.), refd to. [para. Knightley v. Johns, [1982] 1 W.L.R. 349 (C.A.), refd to. [paras. 53, 79]. Costello v. Chief Constable of the No......
-
Brooks v Metropolitan Police Commisioner
...principle enunciated in Hill has been applied in a number of Court of Appeal decisions: Alexandrou v Oxford [1993] 4 All ER 328, 340J; Ancell v McDermott [1993] 4 All ER 355, at 365G-H. Osman v Ferguson [1993] 4 All ER 344; Cowan v Chief Constable for Avon and Somerset Constabulary (2002......
-
Leach v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary
...the breach of a duty of care. Most of them were cases in which claims were brought in respect of physical injury or death ( Ancell v McDermott [1993] 4 All ER 355; Osman v Ferguson [1993] 4 All ER 344; Kirkham v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police [1990] 2 QB 283; Knightley v Johns......
-
The Private Law Liability Of Public Authorities: The Curious Case Of Transport Arendonk BVBA v Chief Constable Of Essex Police
...were ML's fault and not the fault of the police. D relied upon the cases of Alexandrou v Oxford [1993] 4 All ER 328, Ancell v McDermott [1993] RTR 235 and Tindall, each of which involved more egregious failures but resulted in a finding that no duty was C, in turn, contended that the 'makin......
-
The Line Of Duty: Police And The Duty Of Care
...traffic accident, leading to a collision with another vehicle. In both cases the police had created the danger. In Ancell v McDermott [1993] 4 All ER 355, a case some similarity to Tindall, the Court of Appeal held that the police had not owed a duty to make safe a highway on which diesel h......