The House of Lords rules in favor of insurers and police over threats to kill.
The House of Lords this morning (Wednesday) ruled in favor of the conjoined appeals over the cases of Van Colle v Chief Constable of Hertfordshire and Smith v Chief Constable of Sussex.
The cases looked at whether a victim or their relatives can obtain civil redress against the police if they fail to take action or prevent the occurrence of a crime after being alerted to a threat to kill or inflict violence on that victim.
Commenting on the judgment, Mark Whittaker, partner at law firm Weightmans who advised the Chief Constable of Hertfordshire said: “Police forces as well as other public authorities and their insurers can breathe a sigh of relief at this judgment. If the decision had gone against them it would have had the potential to cost millions of pounds in damages and legal expenses.”
