Davidson v Chief Constable of the North Wales Police and Another
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 20 April 1993 |
| Date | 20 April 1993 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
Court of Appeal
Before Sir Thomas Bingham, Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice Staughton and Lord Justice Waite
Damages - false imprisonment - liability of informant
A defendant was not liable on a claim in damages for false imprisonment where he merely gave information to the prosecuting authority which effected the plaintiff's arrest and detention and had not himself instigated or procured it.
A store detective who incorrectly informed police officers that the plaintiff had been involved in shoplifting was not therefore liable on the plaintiff's action for false imprisonment where the officers, in exercise of their own discretion, had arrested and detained the plaintiff.
The Court of Appeal so stated when dismissing an appeal by Miss Marina Davidson, now Mrs Astbury, from Judge Roberts, QC, who, sitting at Llangefni County Court, had withdrawn from the jury her claim for damages for false imprisonment against Frances Clarke Ltd, the employers of a store detective who mistakenly considered that the plaintiff had been involved in the theft of a cassette from Woolworths in Bangor and had informed the police accordingly.
At the beginning of the trial the plaintiff submitted to judgment in respect of the Chief Constable of the North Wales Police on the ground that the police officers had been justified in acting under section 24(6) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. No charge had been brought against the plaintiff who, it was accepted, was entirely innocent of any allegation of dishonesty.
Mr Anthony Clover for the plaintiff; Mr Andrew W Lewis for the second defendants.
THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS referred to Aitkin v BedwellENR ((1827) M & M 1084),Grinham v WilleyENR ((1849) 4 H & N 496) and Meering v Grahame-White Aviation Co Ltd ((1920) 122 LT 44) in which the essential test of a defendant's liability was whether he had given information to a properly constituted authority on which it might act or whether he was the promoter and instigator of what followed.
In Pike v Waldrum and P & O Steam Navigation CoUNK ([1952] 1 Lloyd's Rep 431, 454) Mr Justice Barry had said that a person who requested a police officer to take some other person into custody might be liable to an action for false imprisonment, but would not be so if he merely gave information on which the constable...
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R (TTM) v The London Borough of Hackney and East London NHS Foundation Trust
...had to decide whether the defendant was liable for false imprisonment. The case law was reviewed by the Court of Appeal in Davidson v Chief Constable of North Wales [1994] 2 All E R 597. In that case innocent claimants were arrested by the police on suspicion of shoplifting as a result of a......
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Graham Mouncher and Others v The Chief Constable of South Wales Police
...431 It seems clear from the report in Alford that no argument was presented to the court based upon the decision in Davidson v The Chief Constable of North Wales and Another [1994] 2 All ER 597. In summary, the Court of Appeal in that case recognised the possibility that a store detective g......
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R (B) v Camden London Borough Council
...He further submits that the Martin v Watson does not extend to false imprisonment: see Davidson v Chief Constable of Wales and another [1994] 2 All ER 597. Just as the claimant in that case was imprisoned without a remedy, so it would be with W. 69. I can see the force of these arguments. I......
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Keegan v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police
...or false imprisonment even when the prosecution or detention is actually effected by an independent police officer (see Davidson v Chief Constable North Wales [1994] 2 All E R 597 and Martin v Watson [1996] AC 74). I also accept that where section 17 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act ......
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Table of Cases
...David Osuagwu v. A-G. Anambra State (1993) 4 N.W.L.R. (Pt. 285) 13........529 Davidson v. Chief Constable of North Wales Police (1994) 2 All E.R. 597...................................................................................................580, 581 Davies Contractors Ltd v. Fareham ......
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FALSE IMPRISONMENT
...See, Warner v. Riddiford (1858) 4 C.B.N.S. 130. Also, in another English case, Davidson v. Chief Constable of North Wales Police (1994) 2 All E.R. 597 at 604 Per Sir Thomas Bingham, M. R. took the view that: "an unlawful arrest (as in this case) constitutes false imprisonment. Thus, where a......