Wasson v Chief Constable, Royal Ulster Constabulary
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1987 |
| Date | 01 January 1987 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
- Plaintiff participated in riot - Struck by baton round fired by police - Unreasonable use of force -Whether contributory negligence can be pleaded as a defence to an action for intentional trespass to person. Ex turpi causa - Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland), 1948 (c. 23), ss. 2 (1), 6 (1). Criminal Law - Riot - Reasonable force - Plaintiff struck on head by baton round - Whether defendant had discharged onus of proving use of force was reasonable - Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland), 1967 (c. 18), s. 3.
The plaintiff suffered severe injuries after being struck on the head by a plastic baton round fired by a police officer. At the time of being injured the plaintiff was engaged in very serious rioting during which police officers in landrovers were attacked with stones and petrol bombs and the vehicles were drenched in blazing petrol causing the police officers inside to fear for their lives. The police officers responded by firing plastic baton rounds at the petrol bombers in an attempt to keep them at bay. The plaintiff, who had been drinking heavily during the evening, joined in the riot and threw stones at the police officers. After approximately five minutes the plaintiff was struck on the head by the plastic baton round. The plaintiff was subsequently convicted of riotous behaviour. The plaintiff claimed damages against the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary for assault and battery by reason of being struck by the plastic baton round suing the Chief Constable under section 14 (1) of the Police Act (Northern Ireland), 1970, as joint tortfeasor in respect of the torts committed by the police officers. The defendant pleaded that the force used was reasonable in self defence and in prevention of crime and effecting the lawful arrest of the plaintiff. The defendant further pleaded that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence. Held, that, 1, as the plaintiff had proved that he was struck by a baton round deliberately fired by a police officer, the onus rested on the defendant to establish that the firing was justified in self defence or in defence of other police officers or in the prevention of crime and that the use of such force was reasonable in the circumstances. The court's decision on this point must be governed by the consideration that the onus of proving that the baton round was fired in a manner which constituted...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Bici and Another v Ministry of Defence
...on the point going either way, including another decision of Hutton J (as he was) in Wasson v Chief Constable of Northern Ireland [1987] N.I.420 in the High Court of Northern Ireland in which, after an extensive review of the law up to that date, he held that contributory negligence could ......
-
Savickis v Governor of Castlerea Prison
...is intentional and unjustified.’ An example, perhaps, is the decision of Hutton J. in Wasson v. Chief Constable of the Northern Ireland [1987] N.I. 420. In that case Hutton J. found that the plaintiff had been assaulted by the wrongful firing of a plastic baton round, but he reduced the dam......
-
Shaughnessy v Nohilly
...defendant but because they will not lend their aid to such a plaintiff.’ See also Wasson v. Chief Constable, Royal Ulster Constabulary [1987] N.I. 420 at p 433et seq. 122 This broad statement of the law has long since been refined in terms of application though where applicable can and does......
-
Carr v Olas & Doran
...HACKETT v CALLA ASSOCIATES LTD & ORS UNREP PEART 21.10.2004 2004/21/4749 2004 IEHC 336 WASSON v CHIEF CONSTABLE ROYAL ULSTER CONSTABULARY 1987 NI 420 GALA v PRESTON 172 CLR 243 1991 HCA 18 HALL v HERBERT 1993 2 SCR 159 101 DLR (4TH) 129 MCCOMISKY v MCDERMOTT 1974 IR 75 ROAD SAFETY AUTHORI......