Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ws8qp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T21:32:24.252Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Down Hill—All the Way?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 1999

Get access

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
Copyright
Copyright © The Cambridge Law Journal and Contributors, 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)