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Down Hill—All the Way?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 1999

Tony Weir
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Extract

When suit was brought against the police in the name of the Yorkshire Ripper's final victim, alleging that they were negligent in failing to catch him sooner, every single one of the nine judges who heard the claim decided that it should be struck out (Hill v. Chief Constable [1989] A.C. 53). The House of Lords gave two reasons: first, that no duty was owed to the victim because the police were in no special relationship either with her or (unlike the case where Borstal boys wrecked a yacht while on the run from their dozy warders) with the criminal; secondly, that it was contrary to public policy for any such claims to be brought against the police in respect of their handling of criminal investigations.

Type
Case and Comment
Information
The Cambridge Law Journal , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , March 1999 , pp. 4 - 7
Copyright
Copyright © The Cambridge Law Journal and Contributors, 1999

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